# Novel Intervention for TBI-induced Opioid Seeking

> **NIH VA I01** · JOHN D DINGELL VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Of the more than 300,000 service personnel that have sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to recent
conflicts, 70-80% are treated with opioids for post-injury symptoms. TBI-injured Veterans clinically managed for
these symptoms that include chronic pain, are more likely to receive opioid-based treatment and engage in
higher-risk opioid use. This increase in prescription opioid use among Veterans with TBI reflects the nationwide
opioid abuse and dependence crisis and highlights the need to develop non-opioid based treatment for chronic
symptom management. Recent data indicate early activation of oxidative stress mediators and long-term
response of pro-inflammatory factors are common to both opioid action and TBI and that targeting of these
mechanisms, particularly during the sustained inflammatory response, would be an effective approach to
mitigate opioid addiction vulnerability in TBI-affected Veterans. An emerging and promising approach is use of
photobiomodulation (PBM), a low level light therapy known to attenuate both oxidative stress and inflammatory
signaling in clinical and experimental applications. While successful in reversing TBI-induced cognitive deficits,
PBM will be used in the current proposal as a novel means of addressing exacerbated opioid seeking that
occurs after injury. Our preliminary data support use of PBM to mitigate TBI-induced elevations in reactive
oxygen species, inflammatory markers and morphine seeking, which we also demonstrate to be attenuated
following pharmacological treatment with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory drugs. The central hypothesis is
that TBI will enhance chronic morphine seeking through exacerbated recruitment of oxidative and
proinflammatory systems in regions responsible for these behaviors, and that these will be reversed by
neurotherapeutic intervention with PBM. This hypothesis will be tested with two Specific Aims: (1) Quantify the
effect PBM on TBI-induced oxidative and inflammatory markers in reward- and pain-related regions [and
blood] in the chronic post-injury period, [(2) Quantify the effect of PBM, and adjunctive exposure to antioxidant
or anti-inflammatory compounds, on morphine-seeking behavior.] This work would establish that PBM therapy
attenuates injury-induced oxidative and inflammatory outcomes that may drive aberrant pain and opioid
seeking in the chronic post-injury period. Identification of non-invasive alternatives to opioid-based strategies
for chronic symptom relief would provide an improved strategic framework to assist Veterans in the post-TBI
rehabilitative period.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10760829
- **Project number:** 1I01RX004567-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHN D DINGELL VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** ALANA C. CONTI
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-11-01 → 2027-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10760829

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10760829, Novel Intervention for TBI-induced Opioid Seeking (1I01RX004567-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10760829. Licensed CC0.

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