Morphine 100 times more potent and unrelated analgesic being developed, succeeded in monkey experiment

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The average lifespan in the United States has turned to a shorter trend, and one of the causes is the harmful effects of analgesics called " opioid crisis ". In order to solve such problems, a new type of analgesic that "is more powerful than morphine but has no side effects or dependence" is under development.

A bifunctional nociceptin and mu opioid receptor agonist is analgesic without opioid side effects in nonhuman primates | Science Translational Medicine
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/456/eaar3483

Scientists Test an Experimental Painkiller That's More Powerful Than Morphine But Non-Addictive
https://www.sciencealert.com/experimental-non-addictive-painkiller-solution-opioid-crisis-at-121

The analgesic being studied as being more powerful than morphine and not having dangerous side effects or dependence is " AT - 121 ".

AT - 121 is an analgesic developed by Mei - Chuan Ko et al., A pharmacologist who studies at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in California, USA. Ko and colleagues have been conducting research to find molecules that affect both the μ opioid receptor targeted by prescription drugs such as opioids and the nociceptin receptor that controls various activities of the brain including "dependent emotions" It was. Materials that bind to these two receptors will, in theory, free people from pain without causing severe dependence as found in opioids.

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According to Mr. Ko, AT - 121 is the substance that can work on both receptors with an appropriate balance. Mr. Ko says that AT - 121, which is able to solve problems with one molecule, is a "good drug strategy", although it may be painful with a combination of several medicines at medical sites in the United States.

AT - 121 is in the stage of animal experiment at the time of article creation, and in the experiment of rhesus monkey , about the same amount of analgesic effect is recognized in about 1 / 100th of morphine. And AT - 121 was not dependent on dependence, but when it was administered to rhesus monkeys dependent on oxycodone of opioid analgesic, the dependence level was reduced. From this, it is thought that AT - 121 can release patients from dependence while treating pain.

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In addition, AT-121 has features such as suppressing respiration or causing cardiovascular disease, which is known as an opioid side effect even if taken too much.

Of course, these effects appeared to the animals and it is not yet known whether humans have similar effects. However, it is very important that an effect appears in a monkey close to a human being, and researchers find the possibility of being used as a human therapeutic agent in the future.