Receptome: Interactions between three pain-related receptors or the "Triumvirate" of cannabinoid, opioid and TRPV1 receptors.

ABSTRACT

A growing amount of data demonstrates the interactions between cannabinoid, opioid and the transient receptor potential (TRP) vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptors. These interactions can be bidirectional, inhibitory or excitatory, acute or chronic in their nature, and arise both at the molecular level (structurally and functionally) and in physiological processes, such as pain modulation or perception. The interactions of these three pain-related receptors may also reserve important and new therapeutic applications for the treatment of chronic pain or inflammation. In this review, we summarize the main findings on the interactions between the cannabinoid, opioid and the TRPV1 receptor regarding to pain modulation.