Objective:To examine the changes of mu-opioid receptors (MORs) expression in human chronic inflamed knee joint synovium tissue. Methods:Knee joint synovium tissues were taken from 21 patients with chronic arthritis(inflamed group) and 6 fresh bodies with normal knee joints(control group). And the expression of MORs was detected by using immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry (FCM) and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). Results: The expression of MORs in the inflamed group was significantly higher than that in the normal group by using the 3 techniques(P＜0.05).Conclusion: Chronic inflammation enhances the up-regulation of MORs in human knee joint synovium tissue.