Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40657722›Full record

ArticleMolecular pain

Gabapentin's effect on human dorsal root ganglia: Donor-specific electrophysiological and transcriptomic profiles.

Jenna B Demeter, Nesia A Zurek, Maddy R Koch, Aleyah E Goins, Cristian O Holguin, Mark W Shilling, Michael S Davis, Reza Ehsanian, Sascha Ra Alles, June Bryan I de la Peña

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular pain. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Shaping the Action Potential in Dorsal Root and Trigeminal Ganglia Neurons: Relevance to Pain Mechanisms.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Jenna B DemeterDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5831-9442
Nesia A ZurekDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-7939-2886
Maddy R KochDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-9700-1578
Aleyah E GoinsDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1834-9994
Cristian O HolguinDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Mark W ShillingDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0009-0007-0832-6127
Michael S DavisDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Reza EhsanianDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Sascha Ra AllesDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8532-8950
June Bryan I de la PeñaDepartment of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9391-7595

Funding

WOMEN'S CANCERS RESEARCH PROGRAMP30CA118100 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR · PI Yolanda Sanchez · 2005 to 2026
$57.1M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA118100
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neuropathic pain affects approximately 10% of the adult population and is commonly treated with gabapentin (GBP), a repurposed anticonvulsant drug. Despite its widespread use, GBP's effectiveness varies significantly among patients, highlighting the need to better understand its functional and molecular impacts on human nociceptors. Here we characterized the electrophysiological and transcriptomic effects of GBP on primary neurons derived from the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) of ethically consented human donors. Using patch-clamp electrophysiology, we demonstrated that GBP treatment reduced neuronal excitability, with more pronounced effects in multi-firing vs. single-firing neurons. Notably, significant donor-specific variability was observed in electrophysiological responsiveness to GBP treatment in vitro. RNA sequencing of DRG tissue from the donor that was more responsive to GBP revealed differences in transcriptome-wide expression of genes associated with ion transport, synaptic transmission, inflammation, and immune response. Cross-transcriptomic analyses further showed that GBP treatment counteracted these alterations, rescuing aberrant gene expression at the pathway level and for several key genes. This study provides a comprehensive electrophysiological and transcriptomic profile of the effects of GBP on human DRG neurons. These findings enhance our understanding of GBP's mechanistic actions on peripheral sensory neurons and could help optimize its use for managing neuropathic pain.

Indexed as

Electrophysiological PhenomenaGabapentinGanglia, SpinalTranscriptomeAction PotentialsAdultFemaleGene Expression ProfilingHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuralgiaNeuronsGabapentinGabapentinhDRGion channelsensory neuronsα2δ1

Identifiers

PMID40657722
PMCPMC12368406

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.