Associate professor receives $3.1 million NIH grant to promote the development of non-
opioid therapies.
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.”
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.
YOU CAN HELP
At Texas Tech Health El Paso, we're committed to growing our own health care heroes
and changing the state of health care in our Borderplex. For more information about
how to help, please contact andrea.tawney@ttuhsc.edu or craig.holden@ttuhsc.edu or
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