Warren A. Southerland, J. Gillis, Sumanth Kuppalli
Mar 24, 2021
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0
Influential Citations
3
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Quality indicators
Journal
Current Pain and Headache Reports
Abstract
Dual enkephalinase inhibitors (DENKIs) are pain medications that indirectly activate opioid receptors and can be used as an alternative to traditional opioids. Understanding the physiology of enkephalins and their inhibitors and the pharmacology of these drugs will allow for proper clinical application for chronic pain patients in the future. DENKIs can be used as an alternative mode of analgesia for patients suffering from chronic pain by preventing the degradation of endogenous opioid ligands. By inhibiting the two major enkephalin-degrading enzymes (neprilysin and aminopeptidase N), DENKIs can provide analgesia with less adverse effects than nonendogenous opioids. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature investigating DENKIs and explore their contribution to chronic pain management.