Elevated endogenous opioids in obstructive jaundice: the possible skin mechanisms

Obstructive jaundice disease is often accompanied by an increase in plasma endogenous opioids levels. Theses elevated endogenous opioids bring complications like pruritus, cardiac and vascular abnormalities in patients with cholestasis. However, little is known about the mechanism of increased endogenous opioids synthesis in cholestatic liver diseases. Different from the tradition view that the liver is the source of endogenous opioids peptides, recent researches give clues that skin may be another important organ in which endogenous opioid peptides were synthesized during cholestasis.
Source: Medical Hypotheses - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research