Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40313396›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)2025

Prenatal opioid exposure alters pain perception and increases long-term health risks in infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

Uppala Radhakrishna, Rupa Radhakrishnan, Lavanya V Uppala, Tithi S Trivedi, Jignesh Prajapati, Rakesh M Rawal, Srinivas B Muvvala, Ray O Bahado-Singh, Senthilkumar Sadhasivam

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Uppala RadhakrishnaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Rupa RadhakrishnanDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Lavanya V UppalaDepartment of Pharmacology & Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, United States.
Tithi S TrivediDepartment of Botany, Bioinformatics and Climate Change Impacts Management, School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Jignesh PrajapatiDepartment of Biochemistry & Forensic Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India.
Rakesh M RawalDepartment of Medical Biotechnology, Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
Srinivas B MuvvalaDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
Ray O Bahado-SinghDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Royal Oak, MI, United States.
Senthilkumar SadhasivamDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Opioids are often prescribed for pain relief, yet they pose risks such as addiction, dependence, and overdose. Pregnant women have unique vulnerabilities to opioids and infants born to opioid-exposed mothers could develop neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). The study of opioid-induced epigenetic changes in chronic pain is in its early stages. This study aimed to identify epigenetic changes in genes associated with chronic pain resulting from maternal opioid exposure during pregnancy. Methods: We analyzed DNA methylation of chronic pain-related genes in 96 placental tissues using Illumina Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChips. These samples comprised 32 from mothers with infants prenatally exposed to opioids who needed pharmacologic NOWS management (+Opioids/+NOWS), 32 from mothers with prenatally opioid-exposed infants not needing NOWS pharmacologic treatment (+Opioids/-NOWS), and 32 from unexposed control subjects (-Opioids/-NOWS). Results: The study identified significant methylation changes at 111 CpG sites in pain-related genes among opioid-exposed infants, with 54 CpGs hypomethylated and 57 hypermethylated. These genes play a crucial role in various biological processes, including telomere length regulation ( Conclusion: The identified methylation alterations may shed light on pain, neurodevelopmental changes, and other biological mechanisms in opioid-exposed infants and mothers with OUD, offering insights into NOWS and maternal-infant health. These findings may also pave the way for targeted interventions and improved pain management, highlighting the potential for integrated care strategies to address the interconnected health of mothers and infants.

Indexed as

biomarkerDNA methylationepigeneticsneonatal opioid withdrawal syndromeopioid usepain

Identifiers

PMID40313396
PMCPMC12043715

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.