Opioid addiction related to low vitamin D in many ways (in both mice and men) – June 2021

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Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates UV/endorphin and opioid addiction

Sci Adv. 2021 Jun 11;7(24):eabe4577. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe4577
Lajos V Kemény 1, Kathleen C Robinson 1, Andrea L Hermann 1, Deena M Walker 2, Susan Regan 3, Yik Weng Yew 4, Yi Chun Lai 5, Nicholas Theodosakis 1, Phillip D Rivera 6 7 8, Weihua Ding 9, Liuyue Yang 9, Tobias Beyer 1, Yong-Hwee E Loh 2 10, Jennifer A Lo 1, Anita A J van der Sande 1, William Sarnie 1, David Kotler 1, Jennifer J Hsiao 1, Mack Y Su 1, Shinichiro Kato 1, Joseph Kotler 1, Staci D Bilbo 6 7, Vanita Chopra 11, Matthew P Salomon 12, Shiqian Shen 9, Dave S B Hoon 12, Maryam M Asgari 13, Sarah E Wakeman 3, Eric J Nestler 2, David E Fisher 14
Chart of data by Grassroots Health

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

The current opioid epidemic warrants a better understanding of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to opioid addiction. Here we report an increased prevalence of vitamin D (VitD) deficiency in patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder and an inverse and dose-dependent association of VitD levels with self-reported opioid use.

We used multiple pharmacologic approaches and genetic mouse models and found that deficiencies in VitD signaling amplify exogenous opioid responses that are normalized upon restoration of VitD signaling.

Similarly, physiologic endogenous opioid analgesia and reward responses triggered by ultraviolet (UV) radiation are repressed by VitD signaling, suggesting that a feedback loop exists whereby VitD deficiency produces increased UV/endorphin-seeking behavior until VitD levels are restored by cutaneous VitD synthesis. This feedback may carry the evolutionary advantage of maximizing VitD synthesis. However, unlike UV exposure, exogenous opioid use is not followed by VitD synthesis (and its opioid suppressive effects), contributing to maladaptive addictive behavior.

Press Release

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14+ Vitamin D titles contain: Opioid OR Opiate OR Morphine

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VitaminDWiki - Pain - chronic category contains:

168 items in category Chronic pain

See also

• Overview Pain and Vitamin D
• Percentage of people with pain increased 25 percent in 18 years – Jan 2019
• Pain not reduced by 60,000 IU monthly vitamin D (need 50,000 IU weekly) – RCT Aug 2023
• Overview Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue and vitamin D
• Overview Rheumatoid Arthritis and vitamin D
• Shingles and vitamin D
• Shin splints decrease with vitamin D
• Migraine and Vitamin D
• Headache category 82 items
• "musculoskeletal pain" 490 items as of Aug 2023
• "chronic fatigue" 240 items have it in title or abstract as of Dec 2024
• Category Back Pain 44 items
• 7 pain studies in VitaminDWiki with KNEE in the title as of Aug 2023 (see below)
• Opioid OR Opiate OR Morphine in the title 14 pages as of Dec 2024

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Opioid crisis cost US $1.5 Trillion in 2020 (increase of $0.5 trillion since 2019)

__Opioid crisis cost U.S. nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020: Congressional report - MDEdge Sept 2022

• "Opioid-related deaths soared during the pandemic, including from the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl, exacerbating an already tragic and costly nationwide crisis that accounted for 75% of the 107,000 drug overdose fatalities in 2021, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data."
• “It’s equivalent to one 737 (jet) every day going down, no survivors. It’s a mind boggling number of deaths,” (about 150 on 737)