The news on painkillers like morphine and Oxycontin just keeps getting more exciting. A new study highlighted here suggests that when pain is caused by inflammation, tolerance to opioids is less likely to develop. In a model of inflammatory pain in rats, researchers found that the same dose of morphine continued to provide consistent relief.
The rats had pain from chronic inflammation in their paws. However, when opioid receptors in the paws were blocked, tolerance did later develop, showing that inflammation itself somehow prevents the development of tolerance, at least in the peripheral nerves.
This means that patients with conditions like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer don't have to worry so much that opioid drugs will "stop working" and that they will constantly have to chase tolerance. As long as the underlying pain itself doesn't get worse, the drugs should continue to work.
Continue reading 'Opioids: No Tolerance for Inflammation!' >
