Pain Treatment & Opioid Addiction: Plant Extract Corydalis yanhusuo Shows Potential for Helping

October 20, 2022 /  admin  /  Fresh Perspectives, Natural Products, Opioid Use, Pain Treatment

In our 7th Fresh Perspectives webinar with Amara Davis, we discuss the potential of a natural product, YHS, extracted from the plant Corydalis yanhusuo to improve pain management and reduce the risk of becoming dependent on opioids. Amara interviews Dr. Olivier Civelli a professor and chair of pharmacology at the University of California Irvine. They discuss his recently published research entitled “The Extract of Corydalis yanhusuo Prevents Morphine Tolerance and Dependence”. For the greater part of his career, Dr. Civelli has been investigating the action of natural neurotransmitters on receptors in the brain leading him to study the pharmacology of YHS. Dr. Civelli presents an overview of his findings in mice where YHS when co-administered with morphine not only aided pain alleviation but also inhibited tolerance and dependence.

Public Interest:
As opioid overdose deaths increased to over 80K people, in 2021, and people with chronic pain continue to suffer, the need for non-addictive pain treatment is greater than ever. YHS could positively impact the lives of those suffering from pain and reduce the societal cost from opioid misuse and dependency. Notably, further research is needed to determine if the observations in mice on pain reduction, reduced opioid dosage, and prevention of opioid tolerance are also observed in humans.

Innovation in Research:
Natural products, such as YHS, provide interesting candidates for discovering non-opioid alternatives for treating pain. In this study, YHS used in conjunction with morphine was found to improve pain reduction and ameliorate drug tolerance to morphine, thereby requiring less opioid administration and potentially having positive implications for reducing opioid dependency. Neuropharmacological mechanisms that may explain the pain and tolerance response are YHS activation of opioid receptors (opioid agonist) and its blocking activity of dopamine receptors (dopamine D2 receptor antagonist).

Key Research Finding(s):
In clinically relevant models for opioid use history, YHS was able to: (1) Prevent the development of tolerance and dependence in mice that had not been previously exposed to morphine (akin to persons who haven’t used opioids before), and (2) Reverse preexisting morphine dependence in mice (akin to persons who have developed dependency or addiction).

To see Amara’s full Interview with Dr. Olivier Civelli on the potential of Corydalis yanhusuo to help curb the opioid epidemic see the video below or on the LMI YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/5jZw5Trr6Cs.