CrossTalk proposal: The preBötzinger complex is essential for the respiratory depression following systemic administration of opioid analgesics

Abstract

Drugs acting on μ-opioid receptors (MOR) are widely used as analgesics but present serious side-effects such as addiction and respiratory depression. The latter is critical considering its potential lethality and the current absence of treatments to prevent it. The development of therapies to reduce respiratory depression is limited because the critical neural sites and mechanisms of action of opioids in causing respiratory depression are unclear. Here we discuss evidence highlighting the importance of the preBotzinger complex (preBotC), a critical site in the medulla for respiratory rhythm generation, in mediating respiratory rate depression by MOR drugs. This is of significance given that the isolated preBotC in vitro is widely utilized to develop and test new therapies to prevent respiratory depression (Manzke et al. 2003; Ren et al. 2006).