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Updated: May 27, 2026

Assessment of Morphine-induced Hyperalgesia and Analgesic Tolerance in Mice Using Thermal and Mechanical Nociceptive Modalities
Published on: July 29, 2014
New vistas in opioid control of pain
Hirokazu Mizoguchi1, Chizuko Watanabe, Tsukasa Sakurada
1Department of Physiology and Anatomy, Tohoku Pharmaceutical University, 4-4-1 Komatsushima, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8558, Japan.
Abstract:
The μ-opioid receptors mainly contribute to the control of pain transmission, while a number of splice variants may have different physiological roles. In fact, some μ-opioid receptor agonists show distinct antinociceptive properties probably mediated via splice variants insensitive to traditional μ-opioid receptor agonists. These atypical μ-opioid receptor agonists are extremely effective against morphine-resistant interactive pain and lack the psychological dependence liability. μ-Opioid receptor splice variants specific for these atypical agonists may be the target for better analgesics effective against morphine-resistant interactive pain and lacking psychological dependence liability.
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