Mount Sinai researchers identify new therapeutic target to improve pain management after chronic morphine administration
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a major mechanism underlying the development of tolerance to chronic morphine treatment. The discovery may help researchers find new therapies to treat chronic pain, and reduce tolerance and side effects associated with morphine use. The findings are published in the July 20th issue of Science Signaling.
Overcoming tolerance to morphine after chronic administration has been a persistent problem in treating patients with severe pain, including those with cancer and neuropathy and recovering from major surgeries. After a week of morphine use, its effectiveness decreases as patients build tolerance, and patients also experience negative side effects like addiction and constipation. Researchers at Mount Sinai have identified changes in the brain and spinal cord that occur during the development of morphine tolerance, providing a therapeutic target for preventing it and allowing for the identification of new therapies to treat pain with fewer side effects.