Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs’ ability to relieve pain, according to a new preclinical study published in Science Advances and conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine and Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University investigators, in collaboration with The Center for Youth Mental Health at New York-Presbyterian. The study’s senior author is Dr. Francis Lee, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center; the co-senior author is Anjali Rajadhyaksha, PhD, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the Katz School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience Research in Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine; and the first author is Arlene Martinez-Rivera, PhD, who was an instructor in Dr. Rajadhyaksha’s lab at the time of the study and is now an Assistant Professor at the Katz School of Medicine. The Atlantic wrote a story about the research; the article was picked up by MSN.com. Medical Xpress also provided coverage.
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