During Covid-19, as the opioid epilepsy progressed with even greater force, researchers have been working on new therapeutic interventions that may be helpful in prevention of most deaths due to opioid overdose.
Scripps research lab chemist Kim Janda, PhD and his team have developed experimental vaccines that have been shown in rodents to counteract the lethal effects of fentanyl, which has led to an increase in opioid deaths, which as well as its even more deadly cousin, carfentanil, a growing source of excesses and the threat of chemical terrorism.
The results appeared in ‘ACS Chemical Biology’, published by the American Chemical Society.
“Synthetic opioids are not only extremely lethal but also addictive and easy to make, making them a major threat to public health, especially when a coronavirus crisis adversely affects mental health,” Janda said. Professor Ely R. Callaway, Jr. at Scripps Research.
“We have shown that it is possible to prevent these unnecessary deaths by getting antibodies that will stop the drug from reaching the brain,” Janda said.
Once in the brain, synthetic opioids cause the body to slow down breathing. When too much of the drug is consumed, which is easy to do, breathing can stop completely. In a series of experiments involving mice, Janda vaccines “captured” the strong drug molecules to keep them from interacting with the brain and body, thereby eliminating symptoms dangerous anal.
Janda is jealous of the vaccine being used in a number of situations, including emergencies to treat overdose, as a treatment for those with substance abuse disorders, and as a means for armed personnel. which may be susceptible to opioids as a chemical weapon. They may even be helpful to police dogs who are trained to search for these deadly drugs.
“The respiratory depression data we show is remarkable for both fentanyl and carfentanil, which gives us hope that this approach will work to treat a number of opioid-related diseases,” Janda said .
Far from a ‘miracle drug’
Opioids are a diverse form of drugs that have been used to relieve pain for over 200 years, although the landscape has changed dramatically in recent decades. The pain drug morphine, which was isolated from opium, was called a miracle drug in the early 1800s. Shortly afterwards, drugmakers created a synthetic form, heroin, apparently as a non-addictive morphine substitute. (The troubled nature of the drug became apparent in the 1920s, encouraging regulation.)
However, it was not until the late 1990s that opioids began to provoke a public health crisis marked by overuse of opioid drugs, both from prescriptions and illegal sales of drugs.
Today, the problem has reached a new crescendo. In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the highest number of premature deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, with synthetic opioids – specifically fentanyl, produced in it. the illegal laboratory – as the main source.
Also considered a weapon of terrorism
Fentanyl is much stronger than most other opioids, up to 100 times stronger than morphine. Carfentanil, meanwhile, is up to 10,000 times more powerful than morphine, Janda said, making it one of the deadliest of all. It is often used in medicine to stab large animals such as elephants.
Although carfentanil is less well known as a street drug, it is increasingly used as an adulterant in heroin and cocaine, leading to unexpected drug overdoses. It can also lead to excessive death from accidental exposure, such as in a veterinary or police setting. Getting an emergency vaccine can help avoid these risks.
Janda said synthetic opioids are also considered weapons of terrorism; they can be made in large sizes and in a variety of forms, including tablets, powders, and sprays. They are easily absorbed through the skin or by inhalation. One terrorist attack using carfentanil could be fatal to large numbers of people, he said.
“Unfortunately, the increase in the incidence of excessive carfentanil and fentanyl is putting more pressure on public health systems that are already overcoming a pandemic,” said Janda. continue to continue our vaccine research and translate it into the clinic, where we can begin to address the opioid crisis. “
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This story was published from a wire group group with no text changes.
