Pain, the most common symptom reported among patients in the primary care setting, is complex to manage. Opioids are among the most potent analgesics agents for managing pain. Since the mid-1990s, the number of opioid prescriptions for the management of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) has increased by more than 400%, and this increased availability has signifi cantly contributed to opioid diversion, overdose, tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Despite the questionable eff ectiveness of opioids in managing CNCP and their high rates of side eff ects, the absence of available alternative medications and their clinical limitations and slower onset of action has led to an overreliance on opioids. Conolidine is an indole alkaloid derived from the bark of the tropical fl owering shrub Tabernaemontana divaricate used in traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Thai medicine. Conolidine could represent the beginning of a new era of chronic pain management. It is now being investigated for its eff ects on the atypical chemokine receptor (ACK3). In a rat model, it was found that a competitor molecule binding to ACKR3 resulted in inhibition of ACKR3’ s inhibitory activity, causing an overall increase in opiate receptor activity. Although the identifi cation of conolidine as a potential novel analgesic agent provides an additional avenue to address the opioid crisis and manage CNCP, further studies are necessary to understand its mechanism of action and utility and effi cacy in managing CNCP.

Phytoremediation of lead using PLANTs in lead-contaminated soils is a new and safe environmental technology. By adding chelators and increasing PLANT EXTRACTion, the efficiency of this technology can be increased. In this regard, we evaluated the effect of adding EDTA chelates to lead-contaminated soils to investigate the amount of lead accumulation in a medicinal PLANT, Calendula officinalis. We designed a factorial experiment in the form of a completely randomized, with three replicates in pots and two factors including EDTA at two levels (0, 50 mg kg-1) and lead at four levels (0, 30, 90, and 270 mg kg-1). In this PLANT, the accumulation of lead was accompanied by an increase in the amount of lead in the soil due to the addition of EDTA to the soil. The results showed that EDTA significantly increased the lead translocation of lead from roots to the aerial part of the PLANT.Total Chl. and shoot dry weight decrease significantly in EDTA treatment than control specific at a high level of Pb in the soil. Also, the results showed that EDTA increased lead removal from soil to soil solution and increased lead translocation from roots to the aerial part of the PLANT of Calendula officinalis. In general, the results of this research showed that with the careful management and EDTA use in lead EXTRACTion, it has provided a cost-effective and safe environmentally strategy.