Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain that results from damage or disease affecting the somatosensory system. It affects about 7-10% of the general population and causes significant disability and reduced quality of life. Neuropathic pain is often refractory to conventional analgesics and requires novel therapeutic approaches.

One of the key mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain is the alteration of neuronal excitability, which refers to the ability of neurons to generate and propagate electrical signals in response to stimuli. Neuronal excitability is modulated by various factors, such as ion channels, receptors, neurotransmitters, and intracellular signaling pathways. Dysregulation of neuronal excitability can lead to hyperexcitability or hypoexcitability of neurons, which can manifest as spontaneous pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia, or numbness.

Several novel therapies or drugs have been developed or investigated to target neuronal excitability in neuropathic pain. These include gene therapy, optogenetics, chemogenetics, stem cell therapy, nanotechnology, and biologics . These therapies or drugs aim to modulate the expression or function of specific molecules or pathways involved in neuronal excitability, such as sodium channels, potassium channels, calcium channels, NMDA receptors, GABA receptors, glutamate transporters, cannabinoid receptors, opioid receptors, neurotrophins, cytokines, and nitric oxide .

However, the neurobiological effects of these novel therapies or drugs on neuronal excitability in neuropathic pain are not well understood. There is a lack of systematic and comprehensive synthesis of the existing evidence on this topic. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the neurobiological effects of novel therapies or drugs targeting neuronal excitability in neuropathic pain.

The specific objectives are:

• To identify and select randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effects of novel therapies or drugs targeting neuronal excitability in neuropathic pain.
• To assess the risk of bias and quality of the included RCTs using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.
• To extract and pool data on the primary outcome (pain intensity) and secondary outcomes (neuronal excitability measures) from the included RCTs using random-effects meta-analysis.
• To explore sources of heterogeneity and inconsistency among the included RCTs using subgroup analysis and meta-regression.
• To assess the sensitivity and robustness of the results using leave-one-out analysis and trim-and-fill method.
• To evaluate the publication bias and small-study effects using funnel plots and Egger’s test.
• To grade the quality and certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach.

This meta-analysis will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the neurobiological effects of novel therapies or drugs targeting neuronal excitability in neuropathic pain. It will also identify knowledge gaps and research priorities for future studies in this field. The results of this meta-analysis will inform clinicians, researchers, policy makers, and patients about the potential benefits and harms of these novel therapies or drugs for neuropathic pain management.

I am looking for coauthors who have experience or interest in conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses on neuropathic pain. I am also looking for coauthors who have expertise or knowledge in neuroscience, pharmacology, biotechnology, or statistics. If you are interested in joining this task, please contact me .