19-Oct-2021 | Market Research Store
Although opioids are effective pain relievers, their overdose is responsible for the deaths of over 125,000 people in the last three years. Currently, there is a huge demand for safer analgesics in the US. To develop safer analgesics, biochemists are now focusing on opioid receptors rather than opioids. Opioids bind to these receptors in the brain and peripheral nervous system, which not only curb pain but also trigger adverse effects.
Bryan Roth's lab just identified the atomic structure of a morphine-like molecule that interacts with an opioid receptor. Based on that understanding, the researchers have been engaged in creating novel painkillers that don't cause exhilaration, which leads to addiction.
People seek heavy prescription opioids, such as morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone, from their healthcare professionals to ease severe pain. The analgesic effects of almost all the existing opioid medications are mediated by a protein known as the "mu-opioid receptor" (MOR). MORs are present in abundance in the brainstem. Apart from alleviating pain, activation of these mu receptors reduces breathing. A high amount of these proteins makes it impossible to breathe normally, which results in death. However, not all opioids exhibit the same intensity of side effects.
Kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) proteins have recently gained a lot of attention because it reduces pain without slowing down the respiration. Although not as harmful as MORs, KOR activation leads to dysphoria, or a feeling of discomfort, as well as tiredness. This research implies that medicine that exclusively addresses the pain relief pathway and has no adverse effects. These medications are referred to as "biased" opioids.
The team of researchers identified the integral components of the molecule that are crucial for inhibiting pain signals using an action shot of KOR. The good news is that Roth lab researchers have discovered several intriguing drugs that selectively bind and activate the K-opioid receptor proteins without interfering with the over 330 other related protein receptors.
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