Antineuropathic effects of the antibiotic derivative spicamycin KRN5500.

Excellence in neuropathic pain management continues to challenge the ability of health care providers. Current medications are helpful but often create significant side effects or simply fail to provide adequate analgesia. We report here on a serendipitous finding of the successful attenuation of neuropathic pain in a patient with long-standing monoclonal gammopathy, Raynaud's disease, and neuropathic pain who received the trial chemotherapeutic agent KRN5500. This finding led to animal studies that have provided support for the possible use of KRN5500 in the treatment of neuropathic pain in humans as well as some insight into the possible mechanism(s) of action of this drug.