Researchers have discovered that a known neurotoxin may cause chronic pain in people who suffer from paralysis, and a drug that has been shown to remove the toxin might be used to treat the pain.
The toxin, called acrolein, is produced in the body after nerve cells are injured, triggering a cascade of biochemical events thought to worsen the injury’s severity. The drug hydralazine, which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for hypertension, has been shown to be effective in reducing acrolein levels in the body.