Tackling the opioid crisis: Novel mechanisms and clinical perspectives

Abstract

The isolation of morphine by Friedrich Serturner in 1804 unlocked the powerful essence of opium. There are now a plethora of natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic opioid analgesics that are more potent than morphine and possess diverse pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties (Staahl et al., 2009). Opioid medica-