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A single-dose antidote may help prevent fentanyl overdoses
A newly developed single-dose opioid antidote lasts several days, a study in mice shows. If the results can be duplicated in humans, the treatment may one day help prevent overdoses from deadly drugs like fentanyl.
Normally, a dose of the opioid antidote naloxone passes through a person's body in about 30 minutes — far too quickly to fully counteract the effects of such synthetic opioids as fentanyl and carfentanil (SN Online: 5/1/18). These drugs, tens to thousands of times stronger than morphine, can linger in a person's system for hours or even days (SN: 6/10/17, p. 22). That requires multiple doses of an antidote to prevent someone from overdosing.
So researchers developed a new naloxone-based antidote to outlast synthetic opioids by creating nanoparticles in which naloxone molecules are tangled up with a biodegradable polymer called polylactic acid. Water and enzymes in the body slowly break down these nanosized tangles, gradually releasing naloxone.
In mice, the new nanoparticle delivery system counteracted the pain-relieving effects of morphine for up to 96 hours after administering a single dose of the antidote, according to research being presented March 31 at the American Chemical Society meeting in Orlando, Fla.
"We're now going to start moving onto fentanyl and carfentanil" and ramping up opioid doses to test whether the antidote can prevent a mouse from overdosing, says Saadyah Averick, a biomaterials researcher at the Allegheny Health Network Research Institute in Pittsburgh.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday April 04 2019, @10:40PM (2 children)
> the new nanoparticle delivery system counteracted the pain-relieving effects of morphine for up to 96 hours
Gitmo operators and official dictators worldwide would like to know more...
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday April 05 2019, @04:01AM (1 child)
I don't know what's worse, the fact that we both thought of this, or the fact that that means one of said dictators or his assistants likely already have as well.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Friday April 05 2019, @09:04AM
I'm not a dictator, unfortunately. But, I love this story. Because I love our amazing Corn Farmers. So I'm very happy about the brand new use for Poly Lactic. Something that, people don't know this, comes from beautiful Clean Corn. Same as our E15 gas, now available year round -- because of me!!