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Opioid adjuvant strategy: improving opioid effectiveness.
1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Strasbourg, CNRS, UMR7200, 67400 Illkirch Graffenstaden, France.
Future Medicinal Chemistry
|February 23, 2016
Summary
Combining opioids with adjuvant drugs can improve pain management. This review explores novel strategies to enhance opioid effectiveness and reduce side effects like tolerance and hyperalgesia.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Pain Management
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Opioid analgesics are crucial for moderate to severe pain, but chronic use leads to side effects.
- Opioid-induced side effects include tolerance, hyperalgesia, and withdrawal, limiting long-term efficacy.
- Developing strategies to improve opioid effectiveness and tolerability is essential for chronic pain management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review therapeutic strategies combining opioids with other drugs to modulate opioid-mediated effects.
- To discuss experimental evidence for various opioid adjuvants in enhancing pain relief and reducing side effects.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of experimental evidence on opioid adjuvant therapies.
- Focus on drug combinations aimed at modulating opioid effects and mitigating side effects.
Main Results:
- Several classes of drugs show promise as opioid adjuvants.
- Potential adjuvants include N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists, 5-HT7 agonists, sigma-1 antagonists, I2-R ligands, cholecystokinin antagonists, neuropeptide FF-R antagonists, and toll-like receptor 4 antagonists.
Conclusions:
- Combining opioids with specific adjuvant drugs offers a promising approach to improve pain management.
- These strategies may enhance clinical efficacy and tolerability of opioid therapy for chronic pain.
- Further research into these opioid adjuvants is warranted to optimize pain treatment regimens.
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