A new study in rodents reveals a key protein that may explain why chronic pain persists. The findings may lead to therapeutic agents that could “disrupt the maintenance of pain.”‘

Share on Pinterest New research in mice may help explain why chronic pain persists in humans.

Chronic pain affects over 20% of the adult population in the United States, according to recent estimates.

The term “chronic pain” describes any pain that lasts for longer than 3 months. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an underlying condition, an injury, surgery, or inflammation typically trigger chronic pain.

However, in many cases, the cause remains unknown. While the initial trigger can explain why the pain started, the reason why it persists remains a mystery.

Now, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York may have uncovered a protein that explains why chronic pain won’t go away.

Venetia Zachariou, Ph.D., who is a professor in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, the Department of Pharmacological Sciences, and The Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine, is the last author of the paper.

The findings appear in The Journal of Neuroscience.