A Publication of the University of North Carolina - UNC School of ...

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FACULTY N EWS:RESEARCH ROUND U P
“By determining which variation of COMT a
patient has, we can better predict their sensitivity
to pain and tailor drug treatments and behavioral
therapy according to their individual needs.”
Pain is in Your Genes
Maixner
Dr. William “Bill” Maixner,
professor in the department of
endodontics, made headlines
recently for research findings that
suggest the amount of pain you
feel is in your genes. In time,
these findings may lead to better,
more individualized treatments
for reducing pain — welcome
news for everyone, but especially
welcome for chronic pain
sufferers.
The study analyzed variations
in a gene called COMT in 202
healthy female volunteers. A
correlation was found between
certain variations of the gene and
the pain levels experienced by the
women in controlled laboratory
tests. At the same time, the
variations correlated with the
women’s risk of developing a
chronic pain condition.
Three variations of COMT
were identified: a low, an average
and a high pain sensitivity
variant. Those women with the
low pain sensitivity variant felt
less discomfort when subjected
to painful stimuli, but were
also far less likely to develop
temporomandibular joint disorder
(TMD) — a common,
painful condition of the jawbone
joint. Maixner and his fellow
researchers believe the TMD
findings will hold true for other
chronic pain conditions, as well.
“We’re learning that sensitivity
to pain isn’t as subjective as we
once thought it was,” says
Maixner. “Instead, how you feel
pain and how likely you are to
experience chronic pain is more
trait-like.”
“By determining which
variation of COMT a patient
has, we can better predict their
sensitivity to pain and tailor
drug treatments and behavioral
therapy according to their
individual needs.”
The study, done in collaboration
with lead investigator,
Dr. Luda Diatchenko of UNC,
was published in the journal
Human Molecular Genetics in
January, 2005. ■
Cooper Collaborates on Stem-Cell Breakthrough
Dr. Lyndon Cooper, Stallings
Distinguished Professor in the
department of prosthodontics,
recently collaborated on a study
that discovered a method to
convert stem cells found in
human fat to human bone cells
when transplanted into a mouse.
It’s an encouraging and vital
step towards one day using these
stem cells —less controversial
than embryonic stem cells
because they come from human
fat collected from liposuction—
for such regenerative therapies
as repairing broken bones.
The study, conducted in
concert with senior scientist
Dr. Jeffrey Gimble
of Pennington
Biomedical Research
Center in Louisiana,
and Kevin Hicok of
UNC, took and
multiplied extracted
stem cells from
human fat and
Cooper
attached them to a
chip of artificial bone. The bone
was implanted under the skin of
mice for six weeks and then
removed to find the stem cells had
become living human bone cells
and were growing on their own.
While the findings are both
promising and exciting, the
scientific team cautions that a
great deal of work is left to be
done. Before any stem cell therapy
can be effectively attempted in
human patients, they must first
determine if enough cells can be
generated to meet Federal Drug
Administration guidelines, if
there is way to transplant the
cells from one person to another
without compromising the
immune system, and determine
the number of stem cells needed
to replace certain amounts of lost
bone. ■
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