Photo Credit: amerka83
The following is a summary of “Pain Intensity in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder on Extended-Release Naltrexone or Opioid Agonists; The Role of COMT rs4680 and OPRM1 rs1799971: An Exploratory Study,” published in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Pain Research by Juya et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the relationship between reported pain intensity over time and single nucleotide polymorphisms of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT rs4680) and mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1 rs1799971) in individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) or opioid agonist treatment (OAT).
They performed a 24-week open-label clinical trial, including individuals aged 18 to 65 years with OUD diagnosed per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition. Participants chose either intramuscular XR-NTX or OAT. Pain intensity was assessed at baseline and 24 weeks using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale-11. Genotyping for COMT rs4680 and OPRM1 rs1799971 was conducted using TaqMan technology. Data analysis utilized ordinal logistic regression.
The results showed that of 317 participants at baseline, 210 samples were analyzed. In the OAT group, pain intensity at the 24-week follow-up had a significant negative association with the Val/Val allele of COMT rs4680 and the rare allele G of OPRM1 rs1799971 and no similar associations were observed in the XR-NTX group.
Investigators concluded that the Val/Val allele of COMT rs4680 and the rare G allele of OPRM1 rs1799971 might offered some protection against pain intensity in patients with OUD receiving opioid agonist therapy, although the limited sample size.
