Opioid Receptors Control Viral Replication in the Airways*

Abstract

Using a human study and an experimental model, we show that opioid receptor signaling has a potential beneficial role in the outcome of respiratory viral disease. We show that opioid receptor signaling is required to control respiratory syncytial virus replication and thereby to control disease severity. However, we also show that caution is required before using pharmaceutical opioids as anti-inflammatory or antiviral treatment of patients with viral respiratory infection.

Prevalence of human respiratory syncytial virus circulating in Iran

“…Better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of RSV will prove instrumental in developing efficient vaccines and antiviral pharmacotherapy [8,9,35]. There were several limitations in our study, including: (1) RSV viral load was not measured by quantitative PCR; viral load may have been associated with coinfection or disease severity.…”

“…Considering the critical role of the immune system, particularly neutrophils, in RSV infection, research has focused on its immunopathogenesis in order to characterize the molecular mechanisms of virus replication to design more efficient drugs and vaccines [8][9][10].…”

Disease severity in respiratory syncytial virus infection: Role of host genetic variation

“…Their signaling has received remarkable attention because they have ability to alter immune function and effect on disease progression . The data from our studies, for the first time, provided evidence that genetic variations in these receptors dysregulate the immune response following RSV infection and associated with risk of hospitalization in RSV‐infected infants . We showed that the genetic variations in the CNR2 gene (Q63R), which encode cannabinoid CB2 receptors, associated with RSV disease severity.…”

“…[101][102][103][104] The data from our studies, for the first time, provided evidence that genetic variations in these receptors dysregulate the immune response following RSV infection and associated with risk of hospitalization in RSV-infected infants. 105,106 We showed that the genetic variations in the CNR2 gene (Q63R), which encode cannabinoid CB2 receptors, associated with RSV disease severity. The CB2-63 RR variant was less prone to developing severe infections, and the CB2-63 QQ variant was associated with more severe disease and the risk of hospitalization.…”

From Opium Tincture to the OPRM1 Gene

“…In this issue of Critical Care Medicine, Salimi and colleagues (4) present novel data opening the route to a new pathway in the pathophysiology of RSV infections in children. Of these, approximately 2% to 3% will be hospitalized (2), of which a significant 10% will need critical care admission, and some unfortunately still die (3).…”