The analgesic efficacy of opioids is well known to vary widely among individuals, and effective pain treatment is hampered by vast individual differences. Although these differences in opioid requirements have been attributed to various factors, genetic factors are becoming increasingly relevant to the development of genome science. This review covers the association between opioid analgesic requirements and particularly gene polymorphisms.

The present prospective, randomized, controlled, rater-blinded study investigated the effect of G protein-activated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channel inhibitor ifenprodil on alcohol use in patients with alcohol dependence. This study found an inhibitory effect of ifenprodil on alcohol use in patients with alcohol dependence. The results support the hypothesis that GIRK channel inhibitors ameliorate alcohol dependence.

Aluminum (Al) ammonium sulfate was orally administered to C57BL/6J mice (estimated dose of 0.97-9.78 Al mg/kg/d). Behavioral effects of Al were assessed in a battery of behavioral tests in mice in adulthood. Statistically significant behavioral differences were not found between Al- and vehicle-treated mice.

In vivo microdialysis experiments demonstrated that gastric distention induced an increase in noradrenaline release within the vBNST. Intra-vBNST injections of isoproterenol, a β-adrenoceptor agonist, reduced gastric emptying and small intestinal transit, and these reducing effects were reversed by the coadministration of timolol, a β-adrenoceptor antagonist. The present findings demonstrated important roles of noradrenergic transmission via β-adrenoceptors within the vBNST in the bidirectional brain-gut interactions.

The complementary abnormal function in the cerebellum might be associated with the neural basis of conversion disorder with motor paralysis, as with cases of stroke.