Linda Watkins is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psycho
www.colorado.edu
That is, pathological pain is being created and maintained by a surprising cell type, namely glia. These cells, upon activation, dysregulate normal pain processing by the spinal cord neurons. The aim of this research is to both understand how glia dysregulate neuronal function and, ultimately, to develop clinically relevant means to control such pain states.
Sci Rep. 2016 Aug 24;6:32096. doi: 10.1038/srep32096.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reversed Morphine Tolerance and Opioid-induced Hyperalgesia.
Hua Z1,2,
Liu L1,
Shen J1,
Cheng K1,
Liu A1,
Yang J1,
Wang L1,
Qu T3,
Yang H3,
Li Y3,
Wu H1,
Narouze J1,
Yin Y1,
Cheng J1.
Author information
Abstract
More than 240 million opioid prescriptions are dispensed annually to treat pain in the US. The use of opioids is commonly associated with opioid tolerance (OT) and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH), which limit efficacy and compromise safety. The dearth of effective way to prevent or treat OT and OIH is a major medical challenge. We hypothesized that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) attenuate OT and OIH in rats and mice based on the understanding that MSCs possess remarkable anti-inflammatory properties and that both OT and chronic pain are associated with neuroinflammation in the spinal cord. We found that the development of OT and OIH was effectively prevented by either intravenous or intrathecal MSC transplantation (MSC-TP), which was performed before morphine treatment. Remarkably, established OT and OIH were significantly reversed by either intravenous or intrathecal MSCs when cells were transplanted after repeated morphine injections. The animals did not show any abnormality in vital organs or functions. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the treatments significantly reduced activation level of microglia and astrocytes in the spinal cord. We have thus demonstrated that MSC-TP promises to be a potentially safe and effective way to prevent and reverse two of the major problems of opioid therapy.
PMID: 27554341 PMCID:
PMC4995471 DOI:
10.1038/srep32096
[Indexed for MEDLINE]
Free PMC Article
Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Jun;103(6):971-974. doi: 10.1002/cpt.959. Epub 2017 Dec 29.
The Use of Stem Cell Therapy to Reverse Opioid Tolerance.
Li F1,2,
Liu L2,
Cheng K2,
Chen Z1,
Cheng J2.
Author information
Abstract
Opioid tolerance (OT) and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) are major challenges in medicine. Here we report that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) prevented and reversed OT and OIH in rats and mice. The preventive and therapeutic effects were long-lasting and consistent across different assessment schemes. Both intrathecal and intravenous transplantations were effective and safe. This emerging therapeutic strategy has thus shown promise to impact clinical practice and improve the efficacy and safety of opioid therapy.
© 2018 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
PMID: 29285750 DOI:
10.1002/cpt.959
[Indexed for MEDLINE]
