The cholecystokinin antagonist proglumide enhances the analgesic efficacy of morphine in humans with chronic benign pain

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Cholecystokinin (CCK) in the context of chronic pain: fibromyalgia & crps, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The researchers performed this prospective, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study to examine the effect of proglumide, a nonspecific CCK agonist, on analgesia in patients taking morphine on a chronic basis.

Why It Was Studied

Mobility was unchanged by proglumide or placebo.

Of the 36 patients, 13 elected to continue receiving proglumide after the study.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 36 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Forty patients with intractable pain who were taking sustained-release morphine were recruited, and the researchers obtained results from 36 of these patients.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Because people in this Cholecystokinin (CCK) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Cholecystokinin (CCK) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Cholecystokinin (CCK), giving a reference point.

Each person switched between Cholecystokinin (CCK) and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Analgesics, Opioid, Cholecystokinin, Chronic Disease, Drug Synergism, Morphine, Pain and Pain Measurement.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Cholecystokinin (CCK) in 36 patients in people with chronic pain: fibromyalgia & crps.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1998 (Anesthesia and analgesia), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Cholecystokinin (CCK) compound page, Chronic pain: fibromyalgia & CRPS research.