New painkillers reduce the risk of addiction September 6, 2018 Source: China Science News Author: Zonghua Synthetic opioids seized in anti-narcotics operations - fentanyl Image Source: CLIFF OWEN/AP PHOTO As the opioid crisis continues to undermine the American community, scientists and drug companies have been accelerating the development of safer and less addictive painkillers. Today, several research teams claim to make progress in designing new opioids or alternatives. These drugs appear to relieve pain, but the risk of addiction or opioid-induced respiratory depression is much less. However, most studies are conducted only on animals, so these experimental compounds face significant obstacles before they become approved. However, they bring initial hope to the researchers. “These studies are exciting,†said Laura Bohn, biochemist at the Scripps Research Institute. “We have always had a great push to develop non-opioid painkillers, but it’s really hard.†At the American Chemical Society meeting held in Boston a few days ago, Neel Anand, senior director of the medicinal chemistry department at Nectar Treatments, a biotechnology company in Southern San Francisco, California, described a possible approach. The drug developed by Nectar is called NKTR-181, a form of oxycodone. The researchers linked a molecular tail called polyethylene glycol to it. This is a common pharmaceutical strategy that extends the life cycle of drugs in the blood. Anand reported that in animal studies, NKTR-181 spans the blood-brain barrier at a rate of only 1/70 of oxycodone. At the same time, NKTR-181 triggers the release of a slower neurotransmitter, dopamine, which produces smoother, longer-lasting pain relief and less mental joy. Many painkillers can cause a surge in dopamine in the brain area associated with addiction, which in turn can cause intense pain relief and a refreshing effect in a short period of time. In a clinical study of more than 600 patients taking NKTR-181, Necta researchers found that the former showed less signs of addiction and side effects than patients taking oxycodone. Roger Kroes, senior director of exploratory science at Aptinyx, an Illinois biotechnology company, said that completely avoiding opioid receptors is another attractive strategy for relieving pain and reducing the risk of addiction. He described the compounds developed by his company at the American Chemical Society meeting. Known as NYX-2925, this compound activates NMDA receptors that help strengthen synapses involved in learning and memory. Although acute pain does not involve learning "components," chronic pain is thought to result in long-term neurological changes that are "planned" by the NMDA receptor. Many well-known drugs that block these receptors, including ketamine and methadone, relieve pain and are not as addictive as opioids. However, these compounds attack other targets at the same time and have a wide range of side effects. The NYX-2925 is more selective. Kroes reports that in preclinical studies in mice and rats, the compound reduces pain and leads to remodeling of synapses associated with learning and memory, thereby preventing the neural circuit from getting used to pain. (Zong Hua) Chinese Journal of Science and Technology (2018-09-06 2nd Edition International) Black tea powder has a light and elegant taste, fine powder quality and good solubility. In addition to direct consumption, it is widely used as a nutritional fortification and natural color additive in many industries such as food, health care products and cosmetics, and a wide variety of tea products have been derived. Black Tea Powder,Dark Tea Powder,Anhua dark tea powder Shaanxi Zhongyi Kangjian Biotechnology Co.,Ltd , https://www.zyplantextract.com
New painkillers reduce the risk of addiction