Science at UM [S04-ep09]: Ensuring Safe Pain Management
This week on "Science at UM," Cyril Rivat, a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience, presents promising new avenues for ensuring the safety of opioid pain treatment. The report takes you to the Synbio 3 platform , and our guest in the final three minutes invites you to a conference on restrictive diets. A show airing every Wednesday on Divergence FM 93.9.
A headache, a toothache, a stiff back as the first chill of winter sets in—and there we are, rummaging through the medicine cabinet in search of the last paracetamol tablet. But what happens when the pain sets in and paracetamol and ibuprofen are no longer enough? Since the arsenal of painkillers isn’t infinite, chronic pain often means opioids. Of course, not everyone takes morphine, but other medications have quietly made their way into our pharmacies: codeine and tramadol, which will require a secure prescription starting December1. Why?
According to a survey conducted by the French drug surveillance network, the number of people with substance use disorders who identified tramadol as the primary substance that led to their addiction has increased 17-fold over the past 10 years. The mechanism is similar to that of other non-prescription drugs: taking them a little too often over a little too long a period, leading to tolerance to the substance while, paradoxically, sensitivity to pain increases. So doses and frequency are increased as well, and when that is no longer enough, some move on to the next level: oxycodone, fentanyl, buprenorphine.
This crisis has claimed the lives of more than 800,000 Americans over the past 25 years (Fentanyl, cocaine, “zombie drugs”: Opioids mixed with stimulants continue to wreak havoc in the United States, in The Conversation, November 12, 2024) and what is now known as the opioid crisis continues to accelerate, with an estimated 82,000 deaths between February 2021 and February 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So what can be done about this crisis? Since we cannot in good conscience leave those suffering from chronic pain to endure their suffering without a solution, the challenge is to eliminate or limit the phenomenon of opioid tolerance and pain hypersensitivity, which lead to ever-increasing doses.
Our guest has risen to this challenge. Cyril Rivat is a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience. On November 7, along with other colleagues from the University of Montpellier, Inserm, and the CNRS, among others, he published an article in Nature Communications titled “Inhibition of FLT3 signaling suppresses opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia while preserving analgesia.” He discusses this with us in A l’UM la science.
In the second half of the program, we’ll stay on the topic of medicine and take you to the Synbio 3 platform, which is part of the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules. Pascal Verdié will explain how he and his colleagues in the peptide synthesis lab synthesize biomolecules and polymers of biological and pharmaceutical interest.
At the end of the program, Florian Bergohne, a project coordinator with the Handiversité department, announces a public lecture to be held on November 21 on the Triolet campus from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the topic: “Restrictive Diets? What Are the Consequences and How Should We Approach Them?”
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Director: Tom Chevalier
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
