Table 2. Advantages and disadvantages of various therapeutic approaches to target DRG neurons.
Approach | Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|---|
Systemic administration | Ease of the technique Widespread actions |
Prone to side effects Temporary effects |
Local injections | Precise tissue delivery Achieve high local concentrations |
Limited to few tissues Can be difficult to perform Temporary |
Dorsal root ganglia stimulation | Precise tissue delivery On demand and long-lasting therapy |
Limited to few tissues Surgically implanted Unclear mechanism of action |
Nerve blockade | Precise delivery to a subpopulation of DRG neurons Local actions |
Potential toxicity of QX-314 Temporary |
siRNA therapy | Target specifically DRG neurons Selective knockdown of virtually any gene |
Transfection efficiency Temporary |
Viral therapy | Target specific DRG neurons Long-lasting therapy Can be manipulated for knockdown, knockout, and knockin function |
Immunoreactivity Potentially irreversible |
Stem cell therapy | Precise migration to damaged DRG tissue Long-lasting pain relief Can be manipulated using recombination Can be cultured from patients |
Dependency on CCL12-CCR4 signaling Limited availability of cells Risk of teratoma |