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Drug Therapies for Peripheral Nerve Injuries

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Peripheral Nerve Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Part of the book series: Reference Series in Biomedical Engineering ((TIENRE))

Abstract

Following a peripheral nerve injury (PNI), neurons have the capacity to regenerate but the rate is remarkably slow. Microsurgical treatments are used to reconnect the nerve stumps following a PNI and encourage the regeneration of axons; however, there are currently no therapies available to promote the rate of this regeneration. Drug therapies available for PNI tend to focus on the resulting symptoms such as neuropathic pain, inflammation, and weakness without modifying the condition itself. Effectively designed pharmacological treatments could potentially increase the regenerative rate as well as maintain neuronal viability and improve axonal specificity to target organs. Appropriate drug agents need to target specific events following a nerve injury and advancements in understanding of the molecular and cellular cascades which follow injury could inform this. Some drugs and targets within signaling pathways have been identified, but challenges remain with clinical translation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, UCL, London, UK

    M. L. D. Rayner

  2. UCL School of Pharmacy, London, UK

    M. L. D. Rayner & J. B. Phillips

  3. UCL Centre for Nerve Engineering, London, UK

    M. L. D. Rayner, J. Healy & J. B. Phillips

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  1. M. L. D. Rayner
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  2. J. Healy
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  3. J. B. Phillips
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Correspondence to M. L. D. Rayner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacology, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London Pharmacology, UCL School of Pharmacy, London, UK

    James Phillips

  2. Experimentelle u Klinische Traumatologie, Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für, Wien, Wien, Austria

    David Hercher

  3. Trauma Surgery, AUVA Unfallkrankenhaus Lorenz Böhler, Wien, Wien, Austria

    Thomas Hausner

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Rayner, M.L.D., Healy, J., Phillips, J.B. (2020). Drug Therapies for Peripheral Nerve Injuries. In: Phillips, J., Hercher, D., Hausner, T. (eds) Peripheral Nerve Tissue Engineering and Regeneration. Reference Series in Biomedical Engineering(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06217-0_16-1

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