Keynote Lecture: The vanilloid receptor TRP-V1: a potential target in the management of pain and inflammation in domestic animals

Sensory transduction is a complex biological process aimed to integrate and decode physical and chemical stimuli. Sensory perception of potentially harmful stimuli acts as a warning mechanism against tissue/organ damage. The detection of painful stimuli occurs primarily at the peripheral terminals of specialized sensory neurons known as nociceptors. Following peripheral tissue injury, nociceptors become hyperexcitable giving rise to a higher activity in response to incoming stimuli. Tissue damage associated with inflammation, infection or ischemia produces a wide range of chemical mediators that activate and sensitize nociceptors to elicit either acute or chronic pain. The understanding of sensory transduction in terms of their underlying molecular mechanism is fastadvancing thanks to the discovery and functional characterization of the transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. Biochemical and biological properties of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) are the key gateways of pain transduction, and molecules that modulate this receptor function are of special interest for pain management and inflammation control.