Morphine, which is used throughout the country to control moderate to severe pain, can cause reduced respiration, constipation, itching and addiction. What’s more, patients develop a tolerance to morphine over time, meaning doses must be increased for the drug to be effective.
Morphine increases molecular communication to and from the nerves by a protein known as CXCR4. The boost in CXCR4 signaling results in a neuroinflammatory response that causes increased sensitivity and pain. In the study, researchers gave rats AMD3100, an orphan drug that blocks the response. The drug was effective in interrupting the neuroinflammatory response.
Read the Brain, Behavior and Immunity report on morphine.
Read more on anesthesia:
–Wood-Library Museum of Anesthesiology Launches New Website
–Anesthesiologists Say Research on Hyperglycemia and SSI “Not Ready for Prime Time”
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