Bradykinin Receptors and Pain

Bradykinin B1 receptors and their natural agonists are known to be rapidly induced in local tissues by a variety of inflammatory stimuli. Preclinical evidence, demonstrating that interruption of B1 receptor function causes analgesia under a variety of conditions, has been well established using selective antagonists and genetically modified mice. Accordingly, efforts are underway in several laboratories to develop novel B1 receptor antagonists as potential novel analgesic agents. The proposed studies will examine the kinetics of local induction of B1 receptors and kinin formation in a common situation of acute inflammatory pain in humans - tooth extraction. In addition, an examination of expression of additional genes of interest under these conditions using microarray analysis will be conducted.