Opioids depress breathing through two small brainstem sites
Iris Bachmutsky,
Xin Paul Wei,
Eszter Kish,
Kevin Yackle
Affiliations
Iris Bachmutsky
Department of Physiology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
Xin Paul Wei
Department of Physiology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
Eszter Kish
Department of Physiology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
The rates of opioid overdose in the United States quadrupled between 1999 and 2017, reaching a staggering 130 deaths per day. This health epidemic demands innovative solutions that require uncovering the key brain areas and cell types mediating the cause of overdose— opioid-induced respiratory depression. Here, we identify two primary changes to murine breathing after administering opioids. These changes implicate the brainstem’s breathing circuitry which we confirm by locally eliminating the µ-Opioid receptor. We find the critical brain site is the preBötzinger Complex, where the breathing rhythm originates, and use genetic tools to reveal that just 70–140 neurons in this region are responsible for its sensitivity to opioids. Future characterization of these neurons may lead to novel therapies that prevent respiratory depression while sparing analgesia.
