Title:Noncoding RNAs: Novel Targets for Opioid Tolerance
Volume: 21
Issue: 5
Author(s): Meiling Deng and Wangyuan Zou*
Affiliation:
- Department of Anesthesiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha,
410008, Hunan, China
Keywords:
Noncoding RNA, chronic pain, opioid tolerance, microRNA, long noncoding RNA, circRNA.
Abstract: As a global health problem, chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability, and it
imposes a huge economic and public health burden on families and society. Opioids represent the cornerstone
of analgesic drugs. However, opioid tolerance caused by long-term application of opioids is a
major factor leading to drug withdrawal, serious side effects caused by dose increases, and even the
death of patients, placing an increasing burden on individuals, medicine, and society. Despite efforts to
develop methods to prevent and treat opioid tolerance, no effective treatment has yet been found.
Therefore, understanding the mechanism underlying opioid tolerance is crucial for finding new prevention
and treatment strategies. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are important parts of mammalian gene
transcriptomes, and there are thousands of unique noncoding RNA sequences in cells. With the rapid
development of high-throughput genome technology, research on ncRNAs has become a hot topic in
biomedical research. In recent years, studies have shown that ncRNAs mediate physiological and
pathological processes, including chromatin remodeling, transcription, posttranscriptional modification
and signal transduction, which are key regulators of physiological processes in developmental and
disease environments and have become biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for various diseases.
An increasing number of studies have found that ncRNAs are closely related to the development
of opioid tolerance. In this review, we have summarized the evidence that ncRNAs play an important
role in opioid tolerance and that ncRNAs may be novel targets for opioid tolerance.