Impact of A118G polymorphism on the Mu opioid receptor function in pain

LÓPEZ SOTO, EDUARDO JAVIER; AGOSTI, FRANCINA; CATANESI CECILIA INÉS; RAINGO, JESICA

Journal of Pain & Relief

OMICS Publishing Group

Lugar: Henderson; Año: 2013 vol. 2 p. 119 - 124

2167-0846

Mu Opioid Receptor (MOR) activation by exogenous or endogenous opioids causes reduction of pain threshold after a noxious stimulus, relieving pain sensation. MOR is encoded by OPRM1 gene and its mRNA suffers extensible posttranscriptional modifications by alternative splicing and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Here we focus on the impact of the most frequent encoding MOR SNP in humans (A118G) that causes the substitution of an asparagine by an aspartate at position 40 (N40D). We review the impact of this polymorphism at molecular, cellular and clinical levels. Also we present new data of A118G distribution in an Argentinean human population and discuss the utility of this SNP as an ethnicity marker among worldwide human populations.