The observation of the immunomodulatory effects of opioid drugs opened the discussion about possible mechanisms of action and led researchers to consider the presence of opioid receptors (OR) in cells of the immune system. To date, numerous studies analyzing the expression of OR subtypes in animal and human immune cells have been performed. Some of them confirmed the expression of OR at both the mRNA and protein level, while others did not detect the receptor mRNA either. Although this topic remains controversial, further studies are constantly being published. The most recent articles suggested that the expression level of OR in human peripheral blood lymphocytes could help to evaluate the success of methadone maintenance therapy in former opioid addicts, or could serve as a biomarker for chronic pain diagnosis. However, the applicability of these findings to clinical practice needs to be verified by further investigations.

• Klíčová slova
• addiction, chronic pain, immune cells, opioid drugs, opioid receptors, stem cells,
• MeSH
• biologické markery MeSH
• chronická bolest farmakoterapie   etiologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• imunitní systém účinky léků   imunologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• kmenové buňky účinky léků   metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• opioidní analgetika farmakologie   MeSH
• receptory opiátové genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese * MeSH
• zánět komplikace   etiologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biologické markery MeSH
• opioidní analgetika MeSH
• receptory opiátové MeSH