As per a new research conducted by Prof. Min Zhuo of the University of Toronto's Department of Physiology analyzed that a peptide inhibitor called ZIP helps in treating chronic pain.

Prof. Min Zhuo said: "What makes chronic pain difficult to treat is that these painful signals trigger long-term plastic changes in different cortical areas and form permanent bad 'memory'. It explains why the treatment of chronic pain in areas like the spinal cord is often insufficient or ineffective".

Raised levels of the enzyme, "protein kinase M zeta", in a specific part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex of the injured mice lead to chronic pain.

Zhuo found that by inactivating the genes that enhanced the production of enzymes, the mice suffered less or no chronic pain.

He even added that although painkillers help a lot in reducing the pain but they don’t help much for chronic pain, especially neuropathic pain.

Zhuo and his colleagues hope that their research will help in the production of a drug that restricts the increasing levels of enzymes. They are working on reducing the pain in brain.