Opioid treatment of experimental pain activates nuclear factor-κB

Peggy Compton, RN, PhD; Charles Griffis, CRNA, PhD; Elizabeth Crabb Breen, PhD; Matthew Torrington, MD; Ryan Sadakane, BS; Eshetu Tefera, MS; Michael R. Irwin, MD

doi:10.5055/jom.2015.0261

Authors

Peggy Compton, RN, PhD
Charles Griffis, CRNA, PhD
Elizabeth Crabb Breen, PhD
Matthew Torrington, MD
Ryan Sadakane, BS
Eshetu Tefera, MS
Michael R. Irwin, MD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jom.2015.0261

Keywords:

pain, opioids, NF-B, cold-pressor test, fentanyl

Abstract

Objective: To determine the independent and combined effects of pain and opioids on the activation of an early marker of inflammation, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB).

Design: NF-κB activation was compared within-subjects following four randomly ordered experimental sessions of opioid-only (intravenous fentanyl 1 μg/kg), pain-only (cold-pressor), opioid + pain, and a resting condition.

Setting: University General Clinical Research Center.

Participants: Twenty-one (11 female) healthy controls.

Interventions: Following exposure to treatment (fentanyl administration and/or cold-pressor pain), blood samples for NF-kB analysis were obtained.

Main outcome measures: Intracellular levels of activated NF-κB, in unstimulated and stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells at 15 and 30 minutes.

Results: Neither pain nor opioid administration alone effected NF-κB levels in cell populations; however, the combination of treatments induced significant increases of NF-κB in stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell, lymphocytes, and monocytes.

Conclusions: The combination of acute pain with opioids, as occurs in clinical situations, activates a key transcription factor involved in proinflammatory responses.

Author Biographies

Peggy Compton, RN, PhD

Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Charles Griffis, CRNA, PhD

Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Elizabeth Crabb Breen, PhD

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Matthew Torrington, MD

Department of Family Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Ryan Sadakane, BS

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

Eshetu Tefera, MS

Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, MedStar Health Research Institute, Columbia, Maryland.

Michael R. Irwin, MD

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.

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