• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, August 1, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Significantly less addictive opioid may slow progression of osteoarthritis while easing pain

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
July 13, 2020
in Biology
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

A Keck Medicine of USC study reveals that kappa opioids preserved cartilage in joints and eased pain

IMAGE

Credit: Shutterstock

LOS ANGELES – A novel preclinical study by Keck Medicine of USC researchers, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, reveals that a potential new opioid medication may have the ability to slow the progression of osteoarthritis while being less addictive than commonly prescribed opioid drugs.

The medication activates the kappa opioid receptor (KOR), which binds to opioid-like compounds in the central and peripheral nervous systems to alleviate pain, resulting in targeted pain relief with a reduced risk of addiction.

Previous research shows that some opioids that selectively activate only KORs relieve pain locally at the site of injury without crossing the blood brain barrier and inducing substance dependency, whereas commonly prescribed opioids that target other receptors in the brain are more addictive.

In this study, lead author Alexander Weber, MD, sports medicine physician and orthopaedic surgeon with Keck Medicine, and corresponding author Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD, vice chair for research and associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, locally administered a kappa opioid into arthritic mice knees and measured the progression of the disease in their joints.

The researchers confirmed that the medication effectively alleviated pain, however findings also suggest that the medication prevented the loss of cartilage, the connective tissue between the joins that pads bones, and slowed the progression of osteoarthritis.

“Arthritis affects nearly a quarter of adults in the United States, many of whom take addictive opioids to manage their pain. The implications of this study may someday alter how we provide orthopaedic care to significantly reduce the number of patients experiencing long-term pain and addiction,” says Weber.

More research is needed to advance toward human clinical trials, which are paramount as treatment and pain management options for osteoarthritis are limited.

“We hope that the findings of our study will lay the foundations for clinical research to further current understandings of the relationship between kappa opioids and osteoarthritis in humans to improve clinical care and quality of life,” says Evseenko.

###

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers RO1-AR-071724 and RO1-AG-058624, and by the Department of Defense under award number W81XWH-13-1-0465.

For more information about Keck Medicine of USC visit news.KeckMedicine.org

Media Contact
Gabriella Robison
[email protected]

Original Source

https://news.keckmedicine.org/significantly-less-addictive-opioid-may-slow-progression-of-osteoarthritis-while-easing-pain/preview/13a216040c524ec7dc043dd51976d1d324666170

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/art.41250

Tags: AddictionAgingCell BiologyDrugsMedicine/HealthOrthopedic Medicine
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Global Upswing in Photosynthesis Driven by Land Counterbalanced by Oceans, New Study Finds

Global Upswing in Photosynthesis Driven by Land Counterbalanced by Oceans, New Study Finds

August 1, 2025
Supporting Me, Limiting You: Unraveling the Complex Interactions Within Intestinal Microbiota

Supporting Me, Limiting You: Unraveling the Complex Interactions Within Intestinal Microbiota

August 1, 2025

How Behavior Shapes Morphological Evolution in Primates

August 1, 2025

Experts Urge Stronger Governance for Climate Interventions to Protect Our Oceans

August 1, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9
  • Sustainability Accelerator Chooses 41 Promising Projects Poised for Rapid Scale-Up

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Hospitalized Malnourished Kids in Niger Acquire Drug-Resistant E. coli

Heat Islands and Persistence Fuel Urban Heat Events

Final Clinical Trial Results Published for Advanced Kidney Cancer Therapy

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.