Chapter 52 - Fas, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 Protein and Morphine Addiction

Abstract

Opioids, especially morphine, are the most commonly used analgesic in patients suffering pain. However, long-term use of morphine often results in addiction, and therefore physical and psychological dependence. Long-term use of morphine also induces neuron dysfunction. The neuronal damage induced by opiate drugs significantly hampers the clinical utility of opioids. Apoptosis in neurons has been demonstrated to be an active process of normal cell death during neuron development and also occurs as a consequence of the cytotoxic effect of various neurotoxins. Morphine addiction can induce the structural alteration of neurons, and one of the important reasons may be apoptosis. In this chapter we will briefly summarize the apoptosis of neurons and the main pathways and proteins in morphine addiction-based studies.