Research progress in ion channel mechanism of morphine addiction

Abstract

Morphine is a classic opioid analgesic drug commonly used to treat chronic pain, cancer pain, neuropathic pain, etc. But repeated use can be addictive, this makes its clinical use severely limited. Morphine addiction has become a major global public health problem leading to the spread of some diseases. However, the mechanisms of morphine addiction are still not fully understood. An ion channel is a protein structure on the cell membrane, similar to a gate between inside and outside of the cell, that selectively allows some ions to enter and exit the cell. Current research shows that voltage-gated, ligand-gated and mechanically gated ion channels are all involved in the mechanism of morphine addiction. Therefore, this paper reviews the mechanism of voltage-gated, ligand-gated and mechanically gated ion channel for morphine addiction.

Keywords

• morphine tolerance，morphine addiction，ion channel，voltage-gated，ligand-gated， mechanically gated