The national opioid epidemic affects millions of Americans. Overdoses claimed more than 42,000 lives in 2016, according to the , up from 33,000 in 2015, and Kentucky has the fifth highest rate of overdose deaths of any state, at 33.5 per 100,000 population. Unfortunately, many people who abuse opioids were introduced to the drugs through a physician’s prescription to control pain.

“Spine surgery patients deal with an immense amount of pain both before and after surgery. Opioids are used to manage that pain,” said Mayur Sharma, MD, MCh, a resident in the UofL Department of Neurological Surgery who led the study. “Patients have been abusively using opioids for pain resulting in the recently declared national opioid crisis. Our work indicates that surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis is associated with a reduced risk of opioid dependence.”

In the research, published last week in Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, the authors analyzed records for 10,708 patients who had surgery between 2000 and 2012 for degenerative spondylolisthesis, a condition in which one vertebra slips over another one, compressing the nerves in the spinal column, most often occurring in the lower back. The researchers found that 14.85 percent of the patients were opioid dependent within one year prior to the surgery, and 9.9 percent were opioid dependent 3 to 15 months after the surgery. Most of the patients received decompression and fusion surgery for the condition. The authors concluded that overall, opioid dependence was reduced by nearly 5 percent following surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis.

In addition to the reduction in dependency, analysis of the records showed that younger age and prior opioid dependence were associated with a higher risk for post-surgery opioid dependence. This information may guide physicians in predicting which patients are at higher risk for opioid dependence following surgery.

“It is important to note that 10 percent of patients who come for surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis will be opioid dependent after surgery. These patients require special attention. Our paper discusses some of the predictive factors to consider,” Sharma said.

“,” was coauthored by Sharma, Maxwell Boakye, MD, chief of spinal neurosurgery, Beatrice Ugiliweneza, PhD, MSPH, assistant professor, and Zaid Aljuboori, MD, of UofL, and colleagues at University of California, Davis and Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, one of the National Institutes of Health, will discuss “The Neurobiology of Addiction: View from the Dark Side,” on Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. in the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building (KCCTRB) at UofL.

Koob’s talk will address how addiction is perpetuated by the motivation to alleviate emotional and physical distress created by abstinence from the drug. Addicted individuals compulsively use the drug in order to reduce the hypohedonia, anxiety, irritability and other symptoms of drug abstinence. Such negative reinforcement is known as the “dark side of addiction.” Koob’s research presents compelling evidence that plasticity in the brain’s emotional systems adapts to repeated drug taking and contributes to the development and persistence of compulsive drug seeking.

is the annual exposition of health-related research in the Louisville Medical Center. The 2017 event, scheduled for Sept. 12-15, showcases scientific research, lectures and activities for scientists of all ages. Investigators from high school through professional faculty will present their research in five poster sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Awards for top research presentations will be announced on Friday following the keynote address. Research!Louisville is co-sponsored by UofL, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation/KentuckyOne Health and Norton Healthcare.

Events during the week include:

• Women innovators,��Sept. 12, 3-5 p.m., KCCTRB, 550 S. Hancock St., Room 124.��A panel of women entrepreneurs and innovators will discuss their experiences with the commercialization of university research by licensing to an established company and/or forming a new start-up company.�� Panelists will share lessons they have learned and will discuss the “commercialization culture shift” of moving from academic research to working with industry.
• Kentucky Science Center,��Sept. 13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kentucky Science Center, 727 W. Main St.��A preview in health care training for biomedical-focused middle and high school students. Co-sponsored by UofL and Jewish Hospital and St. Mary’s Foundation/KentuckyOne Health, and in collaboration with the Greater Louisville Medical Society and Louisville Women in Medicine and Science, students will work in sessions and hear from leaders in the science community.��Students will be introduced to alternative science career opportunities and educational advancements with a biomedical focus.��Pulse of Surgery will be one of the highlights, providing students the opportunity to observe a live-streamed open-heart surgery while asking questions of the operating room staff in real time. Pre-registration is required.��
  
• Beer with LOTS of Scientists,��Sept. 13, 8 p.m., Against the Grain Brewery, 401 E. Main St.��This evening gathering will be a get-to-know-you event, with seven or more UofL researchers introducing themselves and their work, then mixing and mingling with guests. Topics will include 3-D printing, pain, nanoparticles, cancer, aging and precision medicine.
  
• Translational Research Symposium,��Sept. 14, 9–11 a.m., room 124 of KCCTRB. Seven areas of translational research will be highlighted with 10-minute presentations. Areas include cancer, environmental health, neurosciences and spinal cord injury, digestive health, cardiovascular disease, the microbiome, and clinical trials research and services.
• Across Sectors, Across Generations: Achieving Health Equity for All,��Sept. 14, noon, room 101/102 of KCCTRB. Rachel Thornton, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on childhood obesity and cardiovascular disease risk, health disparities and social determinants of health. She has expertise in racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Thornton is committed to informing the development of novel interventions to eliminate health disparities by addressing individual, family and community level factors that contribute to disparities in child and adolescent obesity and cardiovascular disease risk.��

More information, including a poster abstract booklet and a program of events for the 22nd annual Research!Louisville, .