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Review
. 2017 Jan 22;18(1):223.
doi: 10.3390/ijms18010223.

What Do We Know about Opioids and the Kidney?

Mary Mallappallil  1 , Jacob Sabu  2 , Eli A Friedman  3 , Moro Salifu  4
Affiliations
Review

What Do We Know about Opioids and the Kidney?

Mary Mallappallil et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Evidence suggests a link between opioid use and kidney disease. This review summarizes the known renal manifestations of opioid use including its role in acute and chronic kidney injury. Both the direct and indirect effects of the drug, and the context which leads to the development of renal failure, are explored. While commonly used safely for pain control and anesthesia in those with kidney disease, the concerns with respect to side effects and toxicity of opioids are addressed. This is especially relevant with the worldwide increase in the use of opioids for medical and recreational use.

Keywords: opioids; pharmacokinetics; renal failure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism of opioid-related kidney failure: pre-renal, acute tubular necrosis and post-renal failure. GFR: glomerular filtration rate; MAP: mean arterial pressure; OPR: opioid peptide receptors; RAAS: renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system; ATN: acute tubular necrosis. Red arrows show the final pathway to acute kidney injury.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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