NIH researchers have identified DFNZ, a mu-opioid receptor agonist, as a potential safer opioid after rodent studies showed strong pain relief without respiratory depression, tolerance, or significant ...

The search for a safer opioid has followed pain medicine for decades. Doctors still need strong drugs for surgery, major ...

Two different versions of the mu-opioid receptor within a cellular membrane illustrate how the receptor changes its conformation to send a signal into the cell. Scientists captured six high-resolution ...

Brandy Schillace’s review of “Candace Pert” by Pamela Rykman (Bookshelf, Nov. 15) contains a questionable conclusion: the discovery of the mu opioid receptor in 1972 “helped launch the opioid crisis” ...

Researchers have observed that the length of daylight hours impacts opioid receptor levels in brown fat. When daylight hours shorten, the receptor activity levels elevate. A similar phenomenon also ...

Muse Treatment Alcohol & Drug Rehab Los Angeles has published a new educational resource that explains how opioid receptors function in the brain and why they play a central role in pain relief, ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 119, No. 16 (April 19, 2022), pp. 1-10 (10 pages) Allosteric modulators of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) ...

When the season turns darker and colder, animals’ brown fat starts to grow. The tissue produces heat efficiently and rapidly, and regulates appetite. Brown fat is also present in people. In a new ...