Many people suffer from chronic pain, which is pain that lasts for a long time. Some of these people use drugs like oxycodone to help with the pain. These drugs are called opioids.
But opioids can be dangerous. They can cause people to become addicted, and when they try to stop taking them, they go through withdrawal, which can be very uncomfortable.
Also, these people still feel pain even though they’re taking opioids.
The Study
Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai wanted to understand how chronic pain and opioids affect our brains.
They gave high doses of oxycodone to mice with nerve injury and to normal mice for two weeks. Then they let the mice go through withdrawal for three weeks.
After that, they collected tissue from different parts of the mice’s brains.
What Did They Do with the Tissue?
The scientists used a method called RNA sequencing on the brain tissue. This method helps them understand how genes work in cells.
It shows how a gene can make more or less of a specific protein depending on what’s happening around the cell, like nerve injury or drug exposure.
The Findings
They found that many genes in the brain’s reward circuitry changed when the mice became physically dependent on oxycodone.
They saw that chronic pain influences how mice experience opioid withdrawal. It changes the sensory, emotional, and molecular parts of the withdrawal experience.
New Target Identified
The scientists used bioinformatics analyses, a fancy term for using computers to understand biological data. They identified a protein called histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1).
This protein controls gene expression, which means it tells certain genes when to work and when not to work. This can help cells overcome injuries.
Testing a New Inhibitor
The scientists also tested a new HDAC1/2 inhibitor named RBC1HI in the mice model. This inhibitor can get through the blood-brain-barrier, which means it can reach the brain and affect it.
Treatment with RBC1HI prevented opioid withdrawal and reduced the signs of neuropathic pain, which is a specific type of chronic pain caused by nerve damage.
The Future
The information from this study can help scientists identify new targets, like HDAC1, to develop new treatments for chronic pain and opioid withdrawal.
These new treatments would not be opioids, so they wouldn’t have the same risks. They might also help develop treatments for substance use disorders.
This is a big step forward in the field of pain management and drug addiction treatment.
If you care about pain, please read studies about vitamin K deficiency linked to hip fractures in old people, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more information about health, please read studies that drinking electrolytes may help reduce muscle pain, and common fever and pain meds may raise your COVID-19 risk.
The study was published in Nature Neuroscience.
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