Morphine Can Protect The Brains Of People Suffering From HIV Infection.
The analgesic morphine may lend a hand protect against HIV-associated dementia, says a further study theanine. Georgetown University Medical Center researchers found that morphine protected rat neurons from HIV toxicity, a uncovering that could lead to the development of new drugs to treat common man with HIV-related dementia, which causes depression, anxiety and physical and mental problems.
So "We think that morphine may be neuroprotective in a subset of people infected with HIV," lead investigator Italo Mocchetti, a professor of neuroscience, said in a Georgetown report release. He and his colleagues conducted the inspect because they knew that some people with HIV who are heroin users never develop HIV brain dementia trichozed hair falls treatment. Morphine is like to heroin.
In their tests on rats, the researchers found that morphine triggers brain cells called astrocytes to deliver a protein called CCL5, which activates factors that suppress HIV infection in protected cells. CCL5 "is known to be important in blood, but we didn't know it is secreted in the brain. Our supposition is that it is in the brain to prevent neurons from dying".
The study was to be presented at the annual junction of the Society of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, April 13 to 17 in Manhattan Beach, Calif. "Ideally, we can use this info to develop a morphine-like compound that does not have the typical dependency and tolerance issues that morphine has".
