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News — El Paso, Texas — Pain can generally be traced back to an injury or damaged nerve. Diabetic neuropathy is different because it’s caused by a metabolic syndrome that affects the entire body, impacting more than just the nerves.

Researchers at Texas Tech Health El Paso and the University of Texas at Dallas will look at the origin of this neuropathic pain on a microscopic level in hope of finding ways to treat it without opioids. The groundbreaking research is funded by a $3.1 million, five-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Texas Tech Health El Paso is receiving $1.05 million of the grant.

Munmun Chattopadhyay, Ph.D., a senior faculty scientist at the Texas Tech Health El Paso’s Center of Emphasis in Diabetes and Metabolism, is the co-principal investigator of this NIH grant and Muhammad Saad Yousuf, Ph.D., a faculty scientist at the UT Dallas Center for Advanced Pain Studies, is the principal investigator.

“The NIH R01 is a prestigious award, and it provides financial support to the principal investigator for health-related research and development,” Dr. Chattopadhyay said. “The high rates of diabetes and obesity in the Paso del Norte region severely impacts the health and quality of life in our community. The mission of Texas Tech Health El Paso is to improve the lives of people in our state and our community by focusing on the unique health care needs of socially and culturally diverse border populations.”

According to a CDC 2021 report, approximately 38.4 million people in the United States have diabetes, representing around 11.6% of the total U.S. population. Diabetic neuropathy, which affects 50-60% of diabetic patients, causes nerve damage primarily in the legs and feet and can lead to severe complications such as ulcers, gangrene and amputations.

“The study will investigate the role of methylglyoxal, a metabolite associated with painful diabetic neuropathy, in contributing to chronic pain in diabetic subjects,” Dr. Chattopadhyay said.

The study will address a type of diabetic nerve pain linked to high levels of methylglyoxal. Dr. Yousuf and his collaborators suspect this compound triggers a cellular stress response that causes pain in diabetic patients.

Dr. Chattopadhyay and her collaborators will explore how changes in methylglyoxal levels can impact the integrated stress response — a cellular signaling pathway that helps cells adapt to various stress conditions.

The goal is to create effective non-opioid treatments that will help improve the quality of life for diabetic patients, including developing drugs that inhibit the integrated stress response, potentially alleviating pain in diabetic patients in future.

Opioids prescribed for pain can lead to abuse and, in diabetics, exacerbate the effects of the disease, making it more difficult for the body to manage healing and repair. Additionally, long-term opioid misuse can cause nerve inflammation, worsening neuropathy and increasing associated pain.

Dr. Chattopadhyay’s research at Texas Tech Health El Paso focuses on diabetes-related complications, which are a major health issue for El Paso’s diverse border population. El Paso County is facing a serious diabetes crisis, with 13.9% of adults affected by the disease. This percentage is higher than both Texas and national averages. Around 94,000 El Pasoans have been diagnosed with the disease, which places a significant burden on health care and communities. Diabetes is also the fourth leading cause of death in adults over 75. In El Paso County, 32.2% of deaths are related to diabetes, which is higher than the national average of 21.2%. These statistics underline the urgent need for prevention, management, and allocation of resources to address this important public health issue.

Texas Tech Health El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine is home to four Centers of Emphasis specializing in cancer, diabetes and metabolism, infectious diseases, and neuroscience. The centers focus on illnesses affecting the El Paso community and millions of others across the U.S. These programs are serving as models for addressing the health needs of Latinos and border populations in general.

About Texas Tech Health El Paso

Texas Tech Health El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation students.

Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a proudly diverse and uniquely innovative destination for education and research.

With a mission of eliminating health care barriers and creating life-changing educational opportunities for Borderplex residents, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,400 doctors, nurses and researchers over the past decade, and will add dentists to its alumni beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.