Nature Communications (May 2020)

Single cell transcriptomics reveals opioid usage evokes widespread suppression of antiviral gene program

  • Tanya T. Karagiannis,
  • John P. Cleary,
  • Busra Gok,
  • Andrew J. Henderson,
  • Nicholas G. Martin,
  • Masanao Yajima,
  • Elliot C. Nelson,
  • Christine S. Cheng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16159-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Over 100 million of opioid prescriptions are issued yearly in the USA alone, but the impact of opioid use on the immune system is barely characterized. Here the authors report antiviral immune response is blunted in several types of blood cells from opioid-dependent individuals, and when healthy donor cells are exposed to morphine in a dish.