Patent 7345065 was granted and assigned to Allergan, Inc. on March, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention provides a method for the long-term relief of chronic pain in a subject by activating in the subject an analgesic α-adrenergic receptor in the absence of α-2A receptor activation over a period of at least three days, such that relief of chronic pain is maintained in the absence of continued activation of said receptor. The analgesic α-adrenergic receptor can be, for example, the α-2B receptor.