A Study of Genetic Variation Influencing Pain and Response to Opioid Medications in Patients With Chronic Pain

The investigators hope to find a genetic association with various physiologic responses to opioid medication in patients who suffer from chronic pain (e.g. OIH vs. analgesic tolerance, baseline pain sensitivity, etc.). This has never been done before, and if it proves successful, it could provide physicians a greater understanding of why some chronic opioid users continue needing increased doses of opioids. This data may also help predict which patients will do well with chronic opioid therapy and which ones may not. Initial data with OPRM1 gene analysis in humans already implicates certain SNPs with opioid responsiveness and there have been suggestions for screening patients for OPRM1 prior to initiating opioid therapy in order to optimize their treatment response (Reynolds et al., 2008).

Clin Lab Med. 2008 Dec;28(4):581-98. The value of CYP2D6 and OPRM1 pharmacogenetic testing for opioid therapy. Reynolds KK, Ramey-Hartung B, Jortani SA.