Date Approved

8-10-2026

Embargo Period

8-10-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. Pharmaceutical Sciences

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

College

College of Science & Mathematics

Advisor

Thomas M. Keck, Ph.D.

Committee Member 1

Daniel Manvich, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Subash Jonnalagadda, Ph.D.

Abstract

Pain, despite being an uncomfortable feeling to experience, is a necessary protective mechanism for the body1. Understanding that pain results from several different mechanisms within the body is important to discovering the optimal way to treat and manage a person’s pain. Modern medicine has seen numerous advancements in treating or managing acute and chronic pain, particularly with opioid drugs. However, these treatments come with potential side effects, including opioid use disorder (OUD) and fatal overdose. Finding new treatment methods, or improving existing methods, is crucial for patients with pain. This thesis explores two projects looking to develop safer analgesia using drug combination therapies. In one project, I investigated the potential synergistic and analgesic effects of CP-55,940, a cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor agonist, and DS-II-048, a GABAA positive allosteric modulator (PAM). The co-administration of CP-55,940 and DS-II-048 at a 1:7.83 ratio resulted in a non-synergistic interaction for both thermal nociception and mechanical antihyperalgesia. In a second project, using fiber photometry, I investigated the effects of the co-administration of the opioid morphine with MP-III-024, a GABAA PAM, on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Our results indicated that MP-III-024 does not affect the dopamine release when co-administered with morphine.

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