Cancer patients in pain require high doses of opioids and quickly become opioid-tolerant. Previous studies have shown that both chronic cancer pain and high dose opioid use lead to mu-opioid receptor down-regulation. In this study we explore down-regulation of OPRM1, the mu-opioid receptor gene, as a mechanism f,or opioid tolerance in the setting of opioid use for cancer pain. We demonstrate in a cohort of 84 cancer patients that high dose opioid use correlates with OPRM1 hypermethylation in peripheral leukocytes of these patients.
from The Journal of Pain http://ift.tt/2pALAfb
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