History of opioid use disorder correlates with altered neuroimmune signatures in the human dorsal root ganglia
- 1University of Texas at Dallas
Abstract
Understanding mechanisms for the negative reinforcing effects of opioids are fundamental to improving patient care. Using human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from donors with and without opioid use disorder (OUD), we set out to examine functional and molecular correlates of chronic opioid use. At a molecular level, we detected disrupted immune signatures throughout cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), spanning glial-neuroimmune interactions to changes in non-neuronal senescence. At the physiological level these changes are paired with sensitization of DRG sensory neurons. Our findings reveal a neuro-inflammatory state in the PNS of individuals with OUD. Targeting therapeutics towards these PNS-based mechanisms could be an approach to alleviating the negative reinforcing effects of opioids.
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BibTeX
@misc{barry2026history,
title = {{History of opioid use disorder correlates with altered neuroimmune signatures in the human dorsal root ganglia}},
author = {A. M. Barry and M. Schaub and J. B. Lesnak and E. Vines and A. Arendt-Tranholm and U. Franco-Enzastiga and J. A. O'Brien and I. Sankaranarayanan and S. I. Shiers and A. Silveira Prudente and J. R. Sondermann and M. Wilde and F. Xian and T. Khan and A. Cervantes and G. Funk and P. Horton and S. Davidson and T. Berta and G. Dussor and M. Schmidt and T. J. Price},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.10.758227},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758227v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - History of opioid use disorder correlates with altered neuroimmune signatures in the human dorsal root ganglia
AU - A. M. Barry
AU - M. Schaub
AU - J. B. Lesnak
AU - E. Vines
AU - A. Arendt-Tranholm
AU - U. Franco-Enzastiga
AU - J. A. O'Brien
AU - I. Sankaranarayanan
AU - S. I. Shiers
AU - A. Silveira Prudente
AU - J. R. Sondermann
AU - M. Wilde
AU - F. Xian
AU - T. Khan
AU - A. Cervantes
AU - G. Funk
AU - P. Horton
AU - S. Davidson
AU - T. Berta
AU - G. Dussor
AU - M. Schmidt
AU - T. J. Price
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.10.758227
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758227v1
AB - Understanding mechanisms for the negative reinforcing effects of opioids are fundamental to improving patient care. Using human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from donors with and without opioid use disorder (OUD), we set out to examine functional and molecular correlates of chronic opioid use. At a molecular level, we detected disrupted immune signatures throughout cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), spanning glial-neuroimmune interactions to changes in non-neuronal senescence. At the physiological level these changes are paired with sensitization of DRG sensory neurons. Our findings reveal a neuro-inflammatory state in the PNS of individuals with OUD. Targeting therapeutics towards these PNS-based mechanisms could be an approach to alleviating the negative reinforcing effects of opioids.
ER -