Due to the importance of dietary sodium and its paucity within many inland environments, terrestrial animals have evolved an instinctive sodium appetite that is commensurate with sodium deficiency.

Alcohol-use disorders have a significant genetic component to their development. New findings show that heavy drinkers with the G allele of the A118G polymorphism of the mu-opioid receptor gene have ...

Scientists have known for decades that opioids relieve pain by binding to molecular switches in the brain called mu-opioid (pronounced "mew-opioid") receptors. What they didn't know - until now - was ...

Two different versions of the mu-opioid receptor within a cellular membrane illustrate how the receptor changes its conformation to send a signal into the cell. Scientists captured six high-resolution ...

Brandy Schillace’s review of “Candace Pert” by Pamela Rykman (Bookshelf, Nov. 15) contains a questionable conclusion: the discovery of the mu opioid receptor in 1972 “helped launch the opioid crisis” ...

Mice with low vitamin D had exaggerated craving for opioids and felt the drugs’ effects more strongly—results supported in part by human medical records—suggesting that supplements should be explored ...

Unlike mu, the kappa receptor enables the drugs’ painkilling qualities without lethal side effects, according to a report published in Wired. A growing body of research suggests this receptor could be ...

Researchers have observed that the length of daylight hours impacts opioid receptor levels in brown fat. When daylight hours shorten, the receptor activity levels elevate. A similar phenomenon also ...

Having a pill that alleviates chronic pain without adverse side effects or the risk of addiction remains an unmet pharmaceutical need for millions of people currently using traditional opioid drugs.

Researchers from the Turku PET Centre, Finland, have observed that the length of daylight hours impacts opioid receptor levels in brown fat. When daylight hours shorten, the receptor activity levels ...