According to a recently published study, a novel vaccination (fentanyl vaccine) may stop potentially lethal opioids from reaching the brain. The lethal synthetic opioid fentanyl has been the focus of a new vaccination that aims to prevent the drug from entering the brain and producing its characteristic “high.”
The ground-breaking finding may become a relapse prevention tool for those attempting to stop taking opioids. This might have significant repercussions for the opioid crisis sweeping the country.
Even though there is hope for people struggling with opioid addiction because of recent advances in treatment, experts predict that 80% of former users will relapse at some point.
A research team led by the University of Houston developed the vaccine. The results, which were only recently published in the journal Pharmaceutics, could not have been more timely or in higher demand:
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times as potent as heroin and 100 times as powerful as morphine, is responsible for the deaths of more than 150 individuals per day. So, Approximately 2 milligrams of fentanyl (about two grains of rice’s worth) is lethal for an average-sized adult.
We anticipate these results will have far-reaching consequences for a significant social issue that has plagued our culture for a long time: opiate abuse. The anti-fentanyl antibodies produced by our fentanyl vaccine prevent ingested fentanyl from accessing the brain, allowing for its excretion through the kidneys.
Therefore, the individual will not experience the euphoric effects. Instead, they will be able to “get back on the wagon” to sobriety, according to the primary author of the study, Colin Haile. He is a research associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston and the Texas Institute of Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics (TIMES). Also, a founding member of the University of Houston Drug Discovery Institute.
Another encouraging result was that the inoculated rats studied in laboratories had no adverse reactions to the vaccination. In the following months, the team hopes to produce a vaccine at clinical grade in preparation for human clinical trials.
Fentanyl doesn’t cut into other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone/acetaminophen tablets, as well as fake benzodiazepines like Xanax, making them all the more hazardous.
Those who don’t regularly use opioids are increasingly dying from fentanyl overdoses, exacerbated by the prevalence of counterfeit medications laced with the substance. When tested against other opioids like morphine, the anti-fentanyl antibodies only reacted with fentanyl and a fentanyl derivative.
Haile explains that even after fentanyl vaccination, a person might get pain medication from other opioids. This is because E. coli-derived adjuvant DMLT is used in the tested vaccination. The success of anti-addiction vaccinations depends on the immune system’s reaction to the vaccine, which the use of a chemical called an adjuvant may enhance.
Related Article: Why Do Opioid Drug Users Hesitate To Visit Methadone Clinics?
Researchers from Tulane University School of Medicine collaborated on developing the adjuvant, which is crucial to the vaccine’s success.
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center are also a part of the team, as is Greg Cuny, the Joseph P. & Shirley Shipman Buckley Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy.
The current therapies for OUD are Methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. However, the success of these drugs varies depending on the formulation, patient compliance, prescription availability, and the kind of opioid being abused.
The novel fentanyl vaccine has the potential to be a “game changer,” according to Therese Kosten, professor of psychology and head of UH’s department of Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience. According to Kosten, the study’s principal author, “fentanyl usage and overdose is a special therapeutic problem. It is not fully addressed with existing drugs due to its pharmacodynamics. Also, it is not suitably effective to address acute overdose with short-acting naloxone.
