Immune and glial cells play a pivotal role in chronic pain. Therefore, it is possible that the pharmacological modulation of neurotransmission from an exclusively neuronal perspective may not be enough for adequate pain management, complex interactions between neurons other cell types might needed successful relief. In this article, we review current scientific evidence modulatory effects sigma...

The sigma receptors were first classified as a subtype of opioid receptors but later they were found to be a distinct pharmacological entity. Many preclinical and clinical data have indicated that sigma receptor ligands have to be involved in neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Numerous data have suggested that potential antipsychotic activity of sigma ligands results from thei...

Background and objectives: More than 40 different alkaloids have been obtained from opium the most important of which are morphine, codeine, papaverine, noscapine and tabaine. Opioid alkaloids produce analgesia by affecting areas of the brain that have peptides with pharmacological pseudo-opioid properties. These alkaloids show important effects on some intracellular peptides l...

Heart failure patients suffer much more often from clinically relevant depression than the general population. The prevalence of depression among heart failure patients steeply increases with the severity of heart failure, reaching a rate of .40% in patients with New York Heart Association functional class IV, and the risk of death and secondary events is more than two-fold higher in heart fail...

Introduction: Association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in mu opioid receptor gene and drug addiction has been shown in various studies. Here, we have evaluated the existence of polymorphisms in exon 3 of this gene in Iranian population and investigated the possible association between these mutations and opioid addiction.  Methods: 79 opioid-dependent subjects (55 males, 24...

teucrium polium is used for treatment of visceral pain in iranian folkloric medicine. in this studyantinociceptive mechanisms of t. polium hydroethanolic extract were examined by acetic acid-inducedwrithing test as a model of visceral pain in male nmri mice. to reveal the antinociceptive mechanisms ofthe extract, we examined the effects of opioidergic, serotonergic, adrenergic and histaminergic...

background and objectives cannabinoids which are active compounds of marijuana show some pharmacological effects similar to the opioids. there are also functional interactions between both cannabinoid and opioid systems. in this study we investigated the role of cannabinoid receptors in central amygdala and its interaction with opioid system.   methods in the present study, we investigated the ...

the parafascicular nucleus (pfn) of thalamus, as a supraspinal structure, has an important role in processing of nociceptive information. in addition, μ-opioid receptor contributes to supraspinal modulation of nociception. in the present study, the effects of microinjection of naloxone (a non-specific opioid-receptor antagonist) and naloxonazine (a specific μ-opioid receptor antagonist) were in...

Introduction: Genes often have multiple polymorphisms that interact with each other and the environment in different individuals. Variability in the opioid receptors can influence opiate withdrawal and dependence. In humans, A118G Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) on μ-Opioid Receptor (MOR), 36 G>T in κ-Opioid Receptor (KOR), and T921C in the δ-Opioid Receptor (DOR) have been...

New racemic and chiral methyl 2-{[4-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-hydroxypiperidin-1-yl]methyl}-1-phenylcyclopropanecarboxylate derivatives were synthesized in order to obtain sigma ligands with increased affinity and selectivity compared to (+)-MPCB and haloperidol. The cis-(±)-7 racemic mixture showed a better binding affinity and selectivity than the (±)-8 trans isomers. Between the two cis enantiomers...