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Dual Enkephalinase Inhibitors and Their Role in Chronic Pain Management

  • Alternative Treatments for Pain Medicine (M Jones, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Dual enkephalinase inhibitors (DENKIs) are pain medications that indirectly activate opioid receptors and can be used as an alternative to traditional opioids. Understanding the physiology of enkephalins and their inhibitors and the pharmacology of these drugs will allow for proper clinical application for chronic pain patients in the future.

Recent Findings

DENKIs can be used as an alternative mode of analgesia for patients suffering from chronic pain by preventing the degradation of endogenous opioid ligands. By inhibiting the two major enkephalin-degrading enzymes (neprilysin and aminopeptidase N), DENKIs can provide analgesia with less adverse effects than nonendogenous opioids.

Summary

The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature investigating DENKIs and explore their contribution to chronic pain management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Warren A. Southerland, Justin Gillis, Sumanth Kuppalli & Alex Fonseca

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Andrew Mendelson, Storm V. Horine & Nitin Bansal

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Amitabh Gulati

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  1. Warren A. Southerland
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Correspondence to Warren A. Southerland.

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Southerland, W.A., Gillis, J., Kuppalli, S. et al. Dual Enkephalinase Inhibitors and Their Role in Chronic Pain Management. Curr Pain Headache Rep 25, 29 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-021-00949-0

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