What is this research about?
Chronic pain is a critical concern for people living with different types of arthritis. While most pain medications used today work by reducing joint inflammation, emerging research has shown that in some people with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), pain is also caused by nerve damage in the joints – called neuropathic pain. This nerve-related pain is more common in women and doesn’t respond to traditional pain medications like ibuprofen.
What did the researchers do?
Dr. Jason McDougall, along with PhD student Melissa O’Brien and their team, studied nerve damage and pain in lab animals to learn more about why women and men with arthritis can have different pain experiences.
What did they find?
They found for the first time that nerve damage triggered in the animals’ knee joints impacted female and male animals differently, and that females experienced more neuropathic pain. They also found that when they treated the animals with a drug that blocks neuropathic pain signals, it was more effective in females.
How can this research be used?
This research helps unravel why existing pain medications may not work as well for women compared to men and will inspire further research on arthritis pain. It highlights that it will be important for future research to consider how pain can work differently in women and men, and the role that nerve damage plays in addition to inflammation. Together, this will help shape the landscape of arthritis pain research.
With further development and clinical testing, the potential drug used in this study could become an innovative life-changing treatment for arthritis pain.
What impact could this have?
Pain is a common thread that ties people with arthritis together. For more than 2 million Canadians with arthritis, their pain is serious enough to limit their ability to participate in activities. If this research leads to a new treatment for nerve-related arthritis pain, it could meaningfully improve the quality of life of millions of Canadians, especially women.
About the researchers
Dr. Jason McDougall is a scientist and professor at Dalhousie University whose pioneering research on pain and innovative treatment approaches, including medical cannabis, has been supported by the Arthritis Society Canada throughout his career. He has also provided valuable input to the Arthritis Society Canada as a scientific advisor. This particular study was supported by an Arthritis Society Canada Strategic Operating Grant awarded to Dr. McDougall in 2018. Trainee Melissa O’Brien’s work on the project was also supported by an Arthritis Society Canada PhD Salary Award.
Researcher Reflection
Men and women’s joints are literally wired differently so their pain should probably be treated differently. Our identification of a drug that was more effective in females than males is exciting and indicates that sex should be taken into consideration when treating arthritis pain.
– Dr. Jason McDougall, Dalhousie University
Real-world Reaction
Reduce my pain and give me hope... Give me hope and I can conquer the world. This research helps give me that hope.
– Shelley McDonald, Arthritis Society Canada Online Consumer Panel Member