Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Friday January 05 2018, @11:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the good-news-week dept.

Researchers are closing in on a non-addictive opiod-based pain-killer with limited side effects:

[...] [An] international team [has] captured the crystal structure of the kappa opioid receptor—critical for providing pain relief—in action on the surface of human brain cells. The researchers also made another important discovery: a new opioid-based compound that, unlike current opioids, activates only the kappa opioid receptor, raising hopes that they may develop a painkiller that has no risk of addiction and, therefore, none of the devastating consequences and side effects that accompany it.

The findings were published Jan. 4 in the journal Cell.

[...] Currently, most opioids bind to several opioid receptors on the membrane of brain cells, which has its share of drawbacks. They alleviate pain but cause a range of side effects, from nausea to numbness, constipation, anxiety, severe dependency, hallucinations and even death by respiratory depression.

In this study, the computer models revealed the formulations that would create the strongest bond between the ligand and the kappa opioid receptor without affecting other receptors.

Katritch said the latest research may pave the way for a major drug breakthrough.

"We have already found the structure of the inactive kappa opioid receptor highly useful for discovering potential candidates for a new painkiller," Katritch said. "Now with the structure of the active receptor, we have a template for designing new types of pain medications that have no disruptive side effects for patients and would reduce the burden that opioid addiction has placed on society."

Journal reference: Tao Che et al. Structure of the Nanobody-Stabilized Active State of the Kappa Opioid Receptor, Cell (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.011

Having known several people who got addicted to painkillers after receiving prescriptions for oxycodone or similar compounds from their doctors, this can't happen soon enough.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday January 06 2018, @04:43AM (3 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Saturday January 06 2018, @04:43AM (#618627) Journal

    I recently had tennis elbow flare up, a very bad one. One day at lunch I had some sort of faux-chicken-curry salad -- the dressing was mostly mustard. About an hour later I'm back at my office and my elbow felt awesome. I didn't think about my lunch at all, I was just so happy that after three weeks of serious pain I was cured. I woke up the next day with the pain as bad as ever. Same thing the following day, and I thought Hmmm, could it have been the mustard? So googled mustard and inflammation and found some BS saying it had anti-inflammatory properties, so when I got home, I ate two tablespoons of mustard and took two aspirin (I'd been taking aspirin constantly with no real relief). About an hour later, my elbow felt great. I finished off the mustard in the fridge over the next week and the pain finally quit.

    The effect seemed to last about 6-8 hours. It could be a placebo except when I ate that mustard-chicken-salad, I did so without any expectation that it would take my pain away. The downside though, was that after eating LOTS of mustard, including raw mustard seeds, I woke up with a pretty severe stomach ache. Fortunately, that was at about the same time the pain went away so I didn't have to decide if could gag down any more mass quantities of mustard.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Interesting=2, Total=2
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Saturday January 06 2018, @04:48AM (1 child)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Saturday January 06 2018, @04:48AM (#618629) Journal

    Also, eating large quantities of mustard (about 3/8ths of a cup per day -- two tablespoons is 1/8th of a cup) did not have any sort mind-altering effect.

  • (Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Saturday January 06 2018, @10:17AM

    by AnonTechie (2275) on Saturday January 06 2018, @10:17AM (#618698) Journal

    You could try this for joint pain and/or arthritis:

    Reduce Joint Pain and Inflammation With Turmeric: https://www.drdavidwilliams.com/nutrient-spotlight-reduce-joint-pain-and-inflammation-with-turmeric [drdavidwilliams.com]

    Turmeric: http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/treatments/natural/supplements-herbs/guide/turmeric.php [arthritis.org]

    +++

    --
    Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."