The Stone Pain Lab is a research laboratory at McGill University headed by Laura S Stone, PhD.  >> more about Dr Stone >>

Analgesic Pharmacology

Many analgesic drugs such as those acting at opioid- or alpha-2-adrenergic receptors interact in a synergistic manner when co-administered in humans or in animal models. This is a important clinically as co-administration of synergistically interacting agents can help maximize analgesia while minimizing adverse side effects. A major goal of my research is to elucidate the underlying mechanism(s) analgesic drug interactions using a multidisciplinary approach that includes behavioral, biochemical, anatomical. electrophysiological and genetic methods. We are currently investigating the hypothesis that the formation of hetero-oligomeric receptor complexes represents a molecular mechanism underlying synergy.

Chronic Back Pain

Persistent back pain is the most common chronic pain condition in Canadians age 65 and under. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individuals suffer for years with little relief. This is due, in part, to a lack of understanding of the underlying causes of back pain. In order to enhance our understanding, we are developing a rodent model of back pain due to degeneration of the spine. Such a model will allow for the identification and testing of novel therapeutic interventions for the alleviation of chronic back pain.

In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Minnesota, we are developing a research program to characterize the biochemical and anatomical changes that accompany different human chronic pain conditions. We are currently focused on low back pain patients who are scheduled for spinal surgery to remove degenerated lumbar discs for therapeutic reasons. Following documentation of disease type and severity by physical examination we will compare samples of cerebral spinal fluid from these patients with normal controls for pain-related changes in expression of known pro- and anti-nociceptive compounds (i.e. Nerve Growth Factor, Substance P). Cutting edge proteomics methods (i.e. LC-MS/MS) will be utilized for more comprehensive characterization of differentially expressed biomarkers, many of which may be currently unidentified. Anatomical studies will be performed on lumbar discs (removed as part of surgical treatment) for inflammatory involvement and pathological innervation patterns.