Opioids and the Immune System
Opioids are known to affect the immune system and their use often results in harmful consequences. For example, higher than normal rates of infections such as skin abscesses, thrombophlebitis, septicemia, bacterial endocarditis, tetanus, and malaria have been observed in narcotic addicts (Hussey & Katz, 1950). Other studies have also reported hepatitis as being one of the most frequently observed infections among opioid addicts, as well as pulmonary infections and cellulitis (Louria et al., 1967). High elevations of immunoglobulin M (IgM) in heroin addicts have been shown to occur (Brown et al., 1974), which also occurs in hepatitis patients, and may reflect an increased susceptibility to infection. Decreases in the response of T-lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) have been observed in both heroin addicts and in subjects undergoing 1- to 5-day withdrawal from heroin compared to controls (Govitrapong et al., 1998). Whether these complications are due to the direct effects of opioids, impurities in these street drugs, or are a consequence of the careless habits of drug addicts such as the sharing of needles, remains to be determined. There are a limited number of human studies that have been able to attribu
Transcripts for all three opioid receptor types in immune cells have also been identified using reverse transcription with polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). These many interactions give rise to the complexity of morphine's effects on immune function and need to be better understood in order to know the consequences of using opiates, whether their use is illegal or legally prescribed for pain. Evidence for the involvement of sex hormones in this effect is demonstrated by the fact that ovariectomy attenuates morphine's enhancement of the CHS response and castration enhances it (Elliott et al. Opioid effects on the immune system are not only due to the acute pharmacological actions of opioids, but can be altered by repeated drug administration. There is considerable interaction between the two branches of the immune system, and disrupting one may have considerable effects on the other. Morphine activates both of these systems, which may contribute to its immunosuppressive effects, as it has been shown that adrenalectomy antagonizes these effects of morphine (Fecho et al. These cytokines participate in the development of CHS. For example, morphine administration in healthy volunteers was found to depress peripheral blood spontaneous natural killer cell cytotoxicity (Yeager et al. DTH responses are memory T-cell mediated immune responses that offer resistance to viruses, bacteria, and tumors.
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