http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A potential new treatment for alcoholism called nalmefene is effective and safe for reducing alcohol consumption in alcohol dependent individuals, says a new study published this week in Biological Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-treatment-option-alcohol-consumption-abstinence.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:02:42 EST news284878955 Here's another reason why a healthy diet during pregnancy is critical to the future health of your children: New research published in the March 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, suggests that pregnant mothers who consume junk food actually cause changes in the development of the opioid signaling pathway in the brains of their unborn children. This change results in the babies being less sensitive to opioids, which are released upon consumption of foods that are high in fat and sugar. In turn, these children, born with a higher "tolerance" to junk food need to eat more of it to achieve a "feel good" response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-junk-food-pregnant-child-addict.html Health Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:34:55 EST news281273656 Previous research had identified an individual's subjective response to alcohol as a marker of alcoholism risk. The A118G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene had also been previously associated with subjective response to alcohol in heavy drinkers. A new study extends this research, showing that the OPRM1 genotype seems to moderate the pleasant and stimulating effects to alcohol among alcohol-dependent (AD) individuals but not its unpleasant and sedative effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-mu-opioid-receptor-genotype-marker.html Addiction Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:00:05 EST news274695807 Alcohol use during adolescence is harmful on multiple levels, including an increased risk for developing alcohol use disorders (AUDs) later in life. Recent research suggests that genetic influences are moderated by environmental factors. A new study of gene-environment interactions between a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene (A118G) and the risk for developing an AUD during adolescence, with a specific focus on the influence of parenting practices or affiliation with deviant peers, has confirmed that environmental factors can moderate this association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-environmental-factors-mitigate-genetic-alcohol.html Addiction Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:00:05 EST news271604537 Imagine eating all of the sugar and fat that you want without gaining a pound. Thanks to new research published in The FASEB Journal, the day may come when this is not too far from reality. That's because researchers from the United States and Europe have found that blocking one of three opioid receptors in your body could turn your penchant for sweets and fried treats into a weight loss strategy that actually works. By blocking the delta opioid receptor, or DOR, mice reduced their body weight despite being fed a diet high in fat and sugar. The scientists believe that the deletion of the DOR gene in mice stimulated the expression of other genes in brown adipose tissue that promoted thermogenesis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-opioid-receptors-drug-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:50:33 EST news262950619 (HealthDay) -- Genotype at the A118G polymorphism of the µ-opioid receptor gene is associated with breast cancer-specific mortality, according to a study published in the April issue of Anesthesiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-polymorphism-opioid-gene-affects-breast.html Cancer Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:50:02 EST news252300593 Scientists are now one step closer to developing anti-addiction medications, thanks to new research that provides a better understanding of the properties of the only member of the opioid receptor family whose activation counteracts the rewarding effects of addictive drugs. The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institute of Mental Health, all components of the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-clues-anti-addiction-medications.html Addiction Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:43:56 EST news251621025 At the molecular level, drugs like salvinorin A (the active ingredient of the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum) work by activating specific proteins, known as receptors, in the brain and body. Salvinorin A, the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen, is unusual in that it interacts with only one receptor in the human brain — the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). Scientists know of four distinct types of opioid receptors, but until now the structure of the 'salvia receptor', and the details about how salvinorin A and other drugs interact with it, was a mystery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-salvia-receptor-reveals-salvinorin-interacts.html Medical research Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:02 EST news251556219 Opioid drugs used to relieve pain in postoperative and chronic cancer patients may stimulate the growth and spread of tumors, according to two studies and a commentary in the 2012 annual Journal Symposium issue of Anesthesiology, the academic journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-evidence-mounts-link-opioids-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:00:01 EST news251481737 (Medical Xpress) -- Better help with battling drug addiction could be at hand as a result of research underway at Victoria University of Wellington. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-combat-drug-addiction.html Medical research Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:20:01 EST news245642706 (Medical Xpress) -- Drinking alcohol leads to the release of endorphins in areas of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-clue-alcohol-addicting-brain-endorphins.html Neuroscience Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:00:01 EST news245509528 Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered the mechanism by which a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN), an agent used clinically (off-label) to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, exerts a profound inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. It has been postulated that opioid receptor blockade by LDN provokes a compensatory elevation in endogenous opioids and opioid receptors that can function after LDN is no longer available. Using a novel tissue culture model of LDN action, the mechanism of LDN has been found to target the opioid growth factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin) and OGF receptor (OGFr) axis. This discovery, reported in the September 2011 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides new insights into the molecular pathway utilized by an increasingly important clinically prescribed agent that serves as a basic biological regulator of cell proliferative events related to pathobiological states such as cancer and autoimmune diseases http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-low-dose-naltrexone-ldn-body.html Medical research Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:25:53 EST news234195935 Women and men experience pain, particularly chronic pain, very differently. The ability of some opioids to relieve pain also differs between women and men. While it has been recognized since the mid-nineties that some narcotic analgesics are more effective in women than men, the reason for this difference was largely unknown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-pain-women.html Neuroscience Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:37:04 EST news232892651 Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered that a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN) has an extraordinarily potent antitumor effect on human ovarian cancer in tissue culture and xenografts established in nude mice. When LDN is combined with chemotherapy, there is an additive inhibitory action on tumorigenesis. This discovery, reported in the July 2011 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides new insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of ovarian neoplasia, the 4th leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women in the United States. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-dose-naltrexone-ldn-harnessing-body.html Cancer Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:42:02 EST news229700508 Naltrexone reduced inflammation in Crohn's patients in a research study at Penn State College of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-naltrexone-inflammation-crohn-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 May 2011 09:56:40 EST news225017754