Peripherally Acting Opioids in Orofacial Pain

Qing Liu; Hongwen He; Lijia Mai; Shengyan Yang; Wenguo Fan; Fang Huang

doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.665445

Peripherally Acting Opioids in Orofacial Pain

Front Neurosci. 2021 May 4:15:665445. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.665445. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Qing Liu^{1

2}, Hongwen He^{2

3}, Lijia Mai^{1

2}, Shengyan Yang^{1

2}, Wenguo Fan², Fang Huang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Oral Anatomy and Physiology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

The activation of opioid receptors by exogenous or endogenous opioids can produce significant analgesic effects in peripheral tissues. Numerous researchers have demonstrated the expression of peripheral opioid receptors (PORs) and endogenous opioid peptides (EOPs) in the orofacial region. Growing evidence has shown the involvement of PORs and immune cell-derived EOPs in the modulation of orofacial pain. In this review, we discuss the role of PORs and EOPs in orofacial pain and the possible cellular mechanisms involved. Furthermore, the potential development of therapeutic strategies for orofacial pain is also summarized.

Keywords: endogenous opioid peptides; immune cells; neuroimmune; orofacial pain; peripheral opioid receptors.

Publication types

Review