Nature Neuroscience - 9, 1465 - 1467 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nn1206-1465b
Opioid, cheating on its receptors, exacerbates pain
Christophe Altier & Gerald W Zamponi
The authors are at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Physiology
and Biophysics, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary,
Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada. zamponi from ucalgary.ca
Opioids are commonly thought of as compounds that alleviate pain. A new
study finds that elevated levels of the opioid dynorphin can unexpectedly
activate bradykinin receptors, contributing to the maintenance of
neuropathic pain.
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Comment:
It would be good if this finding is what it evidently is, namely an
abberation; One that still allows categorizing (especially the creation of
voluminous categories) to be a crucially important crutch for people
preferring to contemplate things comprehensively.
P