Ultra-low-dose opioid antagonists enhance opioid analgesia and reduce analgesic tolerance and dependence by preventing a G protein coupling switch (Gi/o to Gs) by the mu opioid receptor (MOR), although the binding site of such ultra-low-dose opioid antagonists was previously unknown. Here we show that with approximately 200-fold higher affinity than for the mu opioid receptor, naloxone binds a ...

Morphine and related µ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists remain among the most effective drugs known for acute relief of severe pain. A major problem in treating painful conditions is that tolerance limits the long-term utility of opioid agonists. Considerable effort has been expended on developing an understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that underlie acute MOR signaling, short-te...

Agonist-induced receptor phosphorylation is an initial step in opioid receptor desensitization, a molecular mechanism of opioid tolerance and dependence. Our previous research suggested that agonist-induced d-opioid receptor (DOR) phosphorylation occurs at the receptor carboxyl terminal domain. The current study was carried out to identify the site of DOR phosphorylation during agonist stimulat...

There are a number of reasons why physicians might want to switch from one opioid to another. Rotating opioids can reduce the risk of developing tolerance to the analgesic effects of any single drug and of developing hyperalgesia (where the extended use of an opioid can actually reduce the pain threshold, resulting in a worsening of the pain).2 Thus, changing to another opioid can be quite bene...

In the nervous system, the interaction of opioids like heroin and morphine with the G protein-coupled Mu-opioid receptor (MOR) provokes the development of tolerance to these opioids, as well as physical dependence. Tolerance implies that higher doses of these drugs must be consumed in order to obtain an equivalent sensation, a situation that contributes notably to the social problems surroundin...

UNLABELLED Oxytrex is a novel drug that combines oxycodone with ultralow-dose naltrexone, an opioid antagonist. Ultralow-dose opioid antagonists have been demonstrated to enhance and prolong opiate analgesia and alleviate opioid tolerance and withdrawal in rodents. This 3-week, Phase II clinical trial assessed safety and analgesic efficacy of Oxytrex in patients with moderate to severe pain fro...

Vastly stimulated by the discovery of opioid receptors in the early 1970s, preclinical and clinical research was directed at the study of stereoselective neuronal actions of opioids, especially those played in their crucial analgesic role. However, during the past decade, a new appreciation of the non-neuronal actions of opioids has emerged from preclinical research, with specific appreciation ...

To elucidate mechanisms of acute and chronic pain, it is important to understand how spinal excitatory systems influence opioid analgesia. The tachykinin substance P (SP) represents the prototypic spinal excitatory peptide neurotransmitter/neuromodulator, acting in concert with endogenous opioid systems to regulate analgesic responses to nociceptive stimuli. We have synthesized and pharmacologi...

Pain may become intractable as tolerance develops to opioids and the opioids, paradoxically, induce pain. We examined the hypothesis that the analgesia produced by the novel analgesic and high-efficacy 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(1A) receptor agonist (3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenyl)-[4-fluoro-4-[[(5-methyl-pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-amino]methyl]piperidin-1-yl]methanone, fumaric acid salt (F 13640) may count...

introduction: deficiency in mu opioid receptor signaling pathway is partially responsible for morphine tolerance. this deficiency may be due to uncoupling of opioid receptors and related g proteins, which in turn, it may be caused by their structural changes such as phosphorylation or by decreasing their abundance. in this study, we tried to investigate the effect of chronic administration of m...