A piece of the puzzle is revealed for delta opioid receptor-mediated analgesia.

摘要

Chronic pain is a major public health problem that continues to escalate and affects as many as one in three North Americans, making it one of the most common forms of chronic illness under the age of 60 years [10]. Opioid analgesics remain one of the most commonly prescribed medications for treating a diversity of chronic painful conditions. Nevertheless, the extent of efficacy in long-term treatment, abuse potential, and incidence of a significant number of side effects makes the use of opioids in the treatment of chronic noncancer pain controversial [7]. As a result there continues to be a profound interest in investigating the neural basis of chronic pain, with the ultimate goal of developing novel and more effective treatments.