Narcotic painkillers prolong pain in rats, says CU-Boulder study

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/uoca-npp052416.php

Public Release: 30-May-2016
Narcotic painkillers prolong pain in rats, says CU-Boulder study
Findings may have far-reaching implications for humans
University of Colorado at Boulder

The dark side of painkillers - their dramatic increase in use and ability to trigger abuse, addiction and thousands of fatal overdoses annually in the United States is in the news virtually every day.

Brace for another shot across the bow: Opioids like morphine have now been shown to paradoxically cause an increase in chronic pain in lab rats, findings that could have far-reaching implications for humans, says a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Led by CU-Boulder Assistant Research Professor Peter Grace and Distinguished Professor Linda Watkins, the study showed that just a few days of morphine treatment caused chronic pain that went on for several months by exacerbating the release of pain signals from specific immune cells in the spinal cord. The results suggest that the recent escalation of opioid prescriptions in humans may be a contributor to chronic pain, said Grace.

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