\n<\/aside>\n\u201cIt challenges the decades-old dogma that any opioid with high efficacy at the mu-opioid receptor must inherently be dangerous and highly addictive,\u201d he tells The Post, referencing a clinical term for opioid pain meds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DFNZ originates from nitazenes, a group of synthetic opioid compounds that\u2019s considered one of the most powerful mu-opioid receptor agonists.<\/p>\n
But DFNZ\u2019s properties \u2014 its high efficacy at treating pain, its limited brain entry and its \u201cdistinct cellular signaling profile\u201d \u2014 \u201cprovide a completely new blueprint for designing safer analgesics,\u201d or pain medications, Hany says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis research is a remarkable example of how, through careful scientific modification, a compound from a notoriously hazardous chemical family can be engineered into a potentially valuable therapeutic agent,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\nMore than 125 millions Americans live with chronic pain, and many are prescribed opioids to manage their conditions. Kzenon \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPain relief \u2014 without the addiction risk<\/h2>\n The properties of the drug these researchers isolated are what Hany calls \u201ca \u2018wish list\u2019 for what we would want in a safer opioid.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the rodent trials, DFNZ showed promise of effective pain treatment while maintaining a \u201cremarkable safety profile,\u201d which Hany says is the \u201cthe most striking aspect\u201d of the new research.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal and tolerance that are hallmarks of other opioids \u2014 plus the respiratory depression that\u2019s behind so many opioid overdose deaths \u2014 were nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/aside>\n\u201cDespite being a \u2018superagonist\u2019 (meaning it\u2019s very powerful at the opioid receptor), it demonstrated minimal adverse effects that are the hallmark of traditional opioids,\u201d Hany said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrom an addiction standpoint, the results here are stunning,\u201d he went on, noting that when the rats in the study no longer had access to DFNZ, they \u201cimmediately stopped trying to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is in stark contrast to heroin, where animals will continue to seek the drug for a long time, which models the powerful cravings seen in human addiction,\u201d he explained. A \u201cpriming\u201d dose, which \u201ctypically triggers a relapse to drug-seeking,\u201d didn\u2019t make them use more, either.<\/p>\n
It also reduced how much rats sought out heroin \u2014\u00a0meaning it shows promise as a treatment for opioid use disorder, too.<\/p>\n
While Hany says the study has produced very exciting outcomes and it offers an excellent roadmap for the next round of research, we won\u2019t have a complete picture until we test DFNZ\u2019s effects in humans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a study in rodents. The physiology, metabolism and the blood-brain barrier in humans can be significantly different,\u201d he says. \u201cA compound that is safe and effective in a mouse may not be in a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s for this reason that much more research is needed before DFNZ can definitively take the crown for safest and most effective opioid. But there\u2019s reason to be optimistic, Hany says.<\/p>\n
\u201cDFNZ is one of the most promising opioid candidates to emerge from preclinical research in a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, researchers dropped a bombshell report on DFNZ, a developing new medicine derived from a class of drugs once considered too dangerous to even study.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}