Claims
- 1. A method for treating chronic pain in a subject in need of such treatment, comprising administering to said subject an amount of an excitatory opioid receptor antagonist effective to enhance the analgesic potency of an endogenous opioid agonist and attenuate the anti-analgesia, hyperalgesia, hyperexcitabilitly, physical dependence and/or tolerance effects of said endogenous opioid agonist.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said endogenous opioid agonist is selected from the group consisting of enkephalins, dynorphins, and endorphins.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said excitatory opioid receptor antagonist is selected from the group consisting of naloxone, naltrexone, nalmefene, etorphine, dihydroetorphine, and diprenorphine.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mode of administration of said excitatory opioid receptor antagonist is selected from the group consisting of oral, sublingual, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intravenous, and transdermal.
- 5. The method of claim 3, wherein said excitatory opioid receptor antagonist is naloxone.
- 6. The method of claim 3, wherein said excitatory opioid receptor antagonist is naltrexone.
- 7. The method of claim 3, wherein said excitatory opioid receptor antagonist is nalmefene.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/759,590, Dec. 3, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,125 which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/276,966, filed Jul. 19, 1994 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,578, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/097,460, filed Jul. 27, 1993 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,943, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/947,690, filed Sep. 21, 1992, now abandoned, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4863928 |
Atkinson et al. |
Sep 1989 |
|
4910152 |
Meyers et al. |
Mar 1990 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
8550585 |
Jun 1986 |
AUX |
8826432 |
Jun 1989 |
AUX |
8818970 |
Jan 1990 |
AUX |
9224023 |
Feb 1993 |
AUX |
8701703 |
Mar 1987 |
WOX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Berkow, Robert et al., The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, 16th Edition, Merck & Co. Inc., NY 1992 pp. 1558-1559. |
Reynolds, JEF Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeica, 30th Ed., The Pharmaceutical Press, London, 1993, pp. 687-688. |
Continuation in Parts (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
759590 |
Dec 1996 |
|
Parent |
276966 |
Jul 1994 |
|
Parent |
097460 |
Jul 1993 |
|
Parent |
947690 |
Sep 1992 |
|