In the US, a new pain killer has appeared: 100 is stronger than morphine and does not cause addiction

American scientists have developed a drug that could revolutionize anesthesia. The new painkiller is much more effective than morphine, but does not have its side effects, the main of which is the development of dependence on the drug.

Фото: Depositphotos

According to Air force, a substance called AT-121, has already been tested on animals, including higher primates, and has shown impressive results.

“In addition, this substance effectively blocks the potential abuse of medicinal opioids, so we hope that it can be used to treat not only pain, but also opioid addiction,” said one of the drug’s developers, Mei Chuan Ko, a professor of pharmacology at Wake Forest University. .

Dangerous pleasure

Today, drugs from the group of opioids are the most effective means of anesthesia, and they are widely used to treat people with chronic pain of various origins.

However, by acting on the receptors of the brain that reduce pain, these drugs simultaneously stimulate the so-called pleasure center. With regular use of opioids, patients become accustomed to the feeling of pleasure, and they develop a dependence on the drug.

Moreover, such a dependence can be acquired after several doses of the drug, especially considering the fact that anesthetics act on different people differently and it is almost impossible to calculate the exact safe dose of anesthetic for each patient.

In the United States, more than 2 million people are abusing medical opioids. Last year, the US Secretary of Health declared a state of emergency to curb the national opioid crisis.

For decades, pharmacologists have tried to create a substance that can block pain without affecting the pleasure center. But it turned out to be a very difficult task.

Nevertheless, several prototypes of this medicine were developed. A new drug seems to be a real breakthrough in this area.

“The AT-121 we developed balances both of these functions in one molecule, and we believe this is a much better pharmaceutical strategy than taking two drugs at the same time,” Ko explains.

"A promising approach"

The results of experiments on animals are impressive. In rhesus macaques, the anesthetic effect of AT-121 was comparable to the use of morphine already at a dosage of 100 less.

However, he not only did not cause addiction, but also reduced the level of drug addiction in animals accustomed to taking the opioid oxycodone.

It should be emphasized separately: all this does not guarantee that the drug will have the same effect on the person. However, this probability is high.

Experiments on primates are the last stage before clinical trials of any drugs in humans, and scientists are very optimistic.

“The overall results are impressive,” says University of North Carolina pharmacology professor Brian Roth. “This is certainly a very promising and promising approach.”

If clinical trials are successful, AT-121 may show another significant advantage over medicinal opioids.

During the experiments on monkeys, a new substance, even in large doses, did not lead to difficulty breathing of experimental subjects and did not cause problems with cardiac activity.

And this gives scientists the hope that when applying a new painkiller there will be no serious problems with overdose.

However, even in the best case scenario, a new analgesic will appear in pharmacies only in a few years: formal approval of new drugs is a rather long process.

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