Two new studies show that mechanisms mediating the opioid side effects of tolerance, hyperalgesia and physical dependence are mediated spinally and can be dissociated from analgesia. These side effects can be selectively targeted by clinically available drugs without affecting their pain-relieving effects.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Volkow, N.D. & McLellan, A.T. N. Engl. J. Med. 374, 1253–1263 (2016).
Wang, Y. et al. Nat. Med. 18, 385–387 (2012).
Gutstein, H.B. & Trujillo, K.A. Brain Res. 626, 332–334 (1993).
Burma, N.E.B. et al. Nat. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.4281 (2017).
Corder, G. et al. Nat. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm.4262 (2017).
Wise, R.A. & Koob, G.F. Neuropsychopharmacology 39, 254–262 (2014).
Lee, M., Silverman, S.M., Hansen, H., Patel, V.B. & Manchikanti, L. Pain Physician 14, 145–161 (2011).
Cahill, C.M., Walwyn, W., Taylor, A.M., Pradhan, A.A. & Evans, C.J. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 37, 963–976 (2016).
Roeckel, L.A., Le Coz, G.M., Gavériaux-Ruff, C. & Simonin, F. Neuroscience 338, 160–182 (2016).
Drdla, R., Gassner, M., Gingl, E. & Sandkühler, J. Science 325, 207–210 (2009).
Zhou, H.Y., Chen, S.R., Chen, H. & Pan, H.L. J. Neurosci. 30, 4460–4466 (2010).
Kim, D.H., Fields, H.L. & Barbaro, N.M. Brain Res. 516, 37–40 (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Puig, S., Gutstein, H. Opioids: keeping the good, eliminating the bad. Nat Med 23, 272–273 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4277
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4277