El dilluns 22 de setembre, el Dr. José Morón Concepción impartirà una xarrada.

El Dr. José Morón Concepción (convidat per Lucía Hipólito), de la Washington University School of Medicine, impartirà una xarrada amb el títol:
"Novel therapeutic approaches to prevent pain-induced facilitated opioid escalation and fentanyl overdoses".

L'abstract del Dr. Morón Concepción es el següent:

"Females and males differ in brain structure and function. These findings may potentially explain sex differences in pain and efficacy and misuse of certain treatments, such as opioids. Dr. Jose Moron-Concepcion will consider new data reflecting on neural mechanisms underlying sex-specific effects of pain on opioid use. Novel data from an inflammatory pain model in rats will demonstrate how pain alters opioid reward signaling in a sex-specific and time-dependent manner and reveal novel mechanisms underlying opioid misuse liability. In addition, he will show that ovarian hormones protect females from pain-induced effects of fentanyl use, but the effects are not attributable to estradiol per se.  Instead, they demonstrate the therapeutic potential of estradiol treatment in males and its ability to reverse the effects of pain on and fentanyl use. These findings are the first to implicate a role for gonadal hormones in pain-facilitated opioid use and provide novel therapeutic targets that may contribute to pain-related risk for opioid abuse. In a second part of the talk, I will discuss the recent surge in fatal overdoses which is predominantly attributed to the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Despite its short acting nature, fentanyl is more potent and induces opioid induced respiratory depression (OIRD) faster than other opioids. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms by which fentanyl induces OIRD is crucial for developing effective treatment strategies. While naloxone is widely used to reversal OIRD, it produces extraordinarily unpleasant physical responses consistent with severe opioid withdrawal.  My lab utilizes a diverse array of complementary techniques including wireless in vivo fiber photometry, wireless, implantable EMG technology, pharmacology, biodistribution, cardiorespiratory physiology, immunohistochemistry, and rodent behavioral approaches to investigate peripheral mechanisms that contribute to fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and muscle rigidity. We have exciting data demonstrating that the peripheral MOR antagonist Naloxone Methiodide (NLXM) is sufficient to reverse OIRD. Surprisingly, this reversal of OIRD does not induce aversive behavioral effects that are observed after naloxone (NLX) administration. Overall, our data provide insight into a potential new approach to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies in individuals suffering from opioid use disorders."

• Cartell de la xarrada (pdf)