Peripheral administration of morphine attenuates postincisional pain by regulating macrophage polarization through COX-2-dependent pathway

Conclusions:
Local administration of morphine alleviated the development of postincisional pain, possibly by altering macrophage polarity at the incisional sites. A morphine-induced shift in macrophage phenotype may be mediated by a COX-2-dependent mechanism. Therefore, mu-opioid receptor signaling in macrophages may be a potential therapeutic target during the early phase of postincisional pain development.

Source: Molecular Pain - June 14, 2014 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Kohei GodaiMaiko Hasegawa-MoriyamaTae KurimotoTakayuki SaitoTomotsugu YamadaTakahiro SatoMasayasu KojimaYuichi Kanmura Source Type: research