Laboratory of Neuroscience, CINBIO, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain.
Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain.
Pharmacol Res. 2020 Sep;159:104928. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104928. Epub 2020 Jun 3.
Opioid drugs are widely used to treat chronic pain, but their misuse can lead to tolerance, dependence, and addiction and have created a significant public health problem. In addition, food-derived opioid peptides, known as exorphins, like gluten exorphins have been shown to have harmful effects in certain pathologies like celiac disease, for example. Several studies support the involvement of the opioid system in the development of disorders such as autism spectrum syndrome. Moreover, bidirectional communication between the intestine and brain has been shown to be altered in various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer´s and Parkinson´s. The presence of opioid receptors in both the digestive tract and the central nervous system (CNS) suggests that opioid drugs and exorphins may modulate the gut-brain axis. Morphine, for example, has shown a dysbiotic effect on the bacterial microbiota in addition to inducing an increase in intestinal permeability facilitating bacterial translocation. Furthermore, certain components of bacteria can modify the expression of opioid receptors at the central level increasing sensitivity to pain. Strategies based on use of probiotics have resulted in improvements in symptoms of autism and Parkinson´s disease. In this manuscript, we review the role of the opioid system in disorders and CNS pathologies and the involvement of the gut-brain axis.
阿片类药物被广泛用于治疗慢性疼痛，但它们的滥用会导致耐受、依赖和成瘾，并造成严重的公共卫生问题。此外，已发现源自食物的阿片肽，如麦醇溶蛋白衍生的 exorphin，在某些疾病中具有有害作用，例如乳糜泻。多项研究支持阿片系统参与自闭症谱系障碍等疾病的发展。此外，肠道和大脑之间的双向通信已被证明在包括阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病在内的各种神经退行性疾病中发生改变。阿片受体存在于消化道和中枢神经系统 (CNS) 中，表明阿片类药物和 exorphin 可能调节肠-脑轴。例如，吗啡除了诱导肠道通透性增加从而促进细菌易位外，还显示出对细菌微生物群的生态失调作用。此外，某些细菌成分可以在中枢水平上修饰阿片受体的表达，增加对疼痛的敏感性。基于使用益生菌的策略已导致自闭症和帕金森病症状的改善。在本文中，我们综述了阿片系统在疾病和中枢神经系统疾病中的作用以及肠-脑轴的参与。
