Human natural painkiller beats morphine - research

PARIS, Nov 14 (Reuters) The human body produces a painkiller that, at least in rats, can be several times more powerful than morphine, according to a research published.

Researchers extracted from human saliva a natural painkiller, called opiorphin, which has similar characteristics to sialorphin, a natural painkiller they had earlier detected in rats.

They injected the rats with opiorphin to suppress pain for chemically-induced inflammation and acute physical pain and found that in both cases the administered dose of one milligram of opiorphin provided the same painkilling power as three to six mg of morphine.

The researchers at the Institut Pasteur said yesterday in a statement they hoped to identify which physiological conditions trigger the natural release of opiorphin and to further explore possiblities for opiorphin as a painkiller.

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