Fentanyl, a mu-opioid receptor agonist, is one of the most commonly used analgesics in hospitals, and may induce long-lasting behavioral and somatosensory impairment in rodents. However, whether the ...

Having a pill that alleviates chronic pain without adverse side effects or the risk of addiction remains an unmet pharmaceutical need for millions of people currently using traditional opioid drugs.

Scientists are racing to redesign how powerful painkillers work, aiming to keep the relief that opioids provide while stripping away the worst dangers of addiction and overdose. Instead of tweaking ...

Distinct brain circuits drive two key components of addiction to the synthetic opioid drug fentanyl, according to a new finding published in Nature (2024, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07440-x). The ...

Drug discovery is shifting from static snapshots to moving pictures. Instead of inferring how medicines work from end results ...

Researchers at USF Health have discovered a new way opioid receptors can work that may lead to safer pain medications. Their findings show that certain experimental compounds can amplify pain relief ...

Scientists have known for decades that opioids relieve pain by binding to molecular switches in the brain called mu-opioid (pronounced "mew-opioid") receptors. What they didn't know - until now - was ...

A Boston researcher and physician caring for individuals with substance abuse disorders, believes the term opioid substitution therapy (OST) has unintended adverse consequences for patients receiving ...