Chronic pain tagged posts

GRK2 interaction with DOR, not kinase activity, desensitizes the receptor at the plasma membrane in
peripheral pain-sensing neurons. Priming by inflammatory mediator BK induces PKC-dependent RKIP sequestration of
GRK2 to the cytosol, enhancing DOR responsiveness. Knock down of GRK2 enhances peripheral DOR-mediated
analgesia in vivo.

Opioid abuse is a growing public health crisis, affecting up to 36 million people worldwide. Many of these individuals first get hooked on prescription painkillers that target mu opioid receptors in the brain. A study in rats published August 25 in Cell Reports suggests that a different approach that targets delta opioid receptors on sensory neurons in peripheral tissues might avoid side effects and high abuse potential of currently available pain relievers.

The choroid plexus located in the brain ventricle is marked with red in the brain image. The volume of the choroid plexus was measured in this work. The dots in the graph show the volume of the choroid plexus in patients with CRPS (on the left) and healthy control subjects (on the right). Credit: Image courtesy of Aalto University

Neuroscientists have found a novel connection between the size of the choroid plexus in the brain and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), an unexpected finding, they say. ‘When studying magnetic resonance images of the brains of patients suffering from CRPS, we noticed that the choroid plexus was nearly 1/5 larger in patients than in healthy control subjects,’ says Postdoctoral Researcher Guangyu Zhou.

Located in the walls of the brain ventricles, the choroid ...