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Cleveland Clinic lab finds stem cells can prevent and reverse opioid tolerance

Posted at 4:57 PM, Jan 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-10 16:57:23-05

Last year, more than 42,000 lives were lost to the opioid epidemic here in the U.S. That is more than the number of people who die from breast cancer every year.

A doctor at Cleveland Clinic is working on groundbreaking research that could save lives. It all started with his daughter's high school science project.

"People are dying and they're dying in large, large numbers," remarked Dr. Jianguo Cheng of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.

Inside Dr. Cheng's lab at the Clinic could be the key to solving the opioid crisis.
 
"We found the stem cells are so powerful to prevent the development of opioid tolerance," he explained. 
 
Stem cells are known for their powerful anti-inflammatory properties and benefits to the immune system. And — inspired by his daughter's science project — Dr. Cheng's lab found they can not only prevent opioid tolerance from happening in the first place, they can also reverse addiction after the fact.

"Surprisingly, so we did not expect this," said Dr. Cheng. 

What's more, the results were consistent and repeated over and over, using different tests in mice and rats.

Whether they were given stem cells one day or seven days before getting daily morphine injections, tolerance was prevented. In another experiment, after two weeks of daily morphine, as expected, the animals developed a significant tolerance. But once the stem cells were transplanted, that went away.
 
"No matter how good it looks on the bench, the ultimate goal is to be used in bedside, in humans," Dr. Cheng noted. "To achieve that, we have done a lot of pre-clinical work."

Dr. Cheng says the results are very promising and the treatment is safe, but the next step is to get FDA approval and funding so human trials can start. He is hopeful that will happen soon.
 
"We think about the two crises, chronic pain and opioid epidemic," he said. "You can complain about it, you can blame people, you can accept as status quo, or you can do something about it. So, we are here to do something about it and to hopefully find innovative, effective and safe new treatments." 
 
Dr. Cheng says because there is a large supply of stem cells, the treatment is very cost effective, especially when you consider the enormous costs associated with chronic pain and opioid addiction. According to Dr. Cheng, the fact that stem cells are already so commonly used means FDA approval shouldn't be a problem. The bigger issue will be getting the funding.