A tiny snail may offer an alternative to opioids for pain relief. Scientists at the University of Utah have found a compound that blocks pain by targeting a pathway not associated with opioids. Research in rodents indicates that the benefits continue long after the compound have cleared the body. The findings were reported online in the February 20 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportions. Opioids is[sic] highly addictive and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. The medical community is in need of alternative therapies that do not rely on the opioid pathways to relieve pain.
"Nature has evolved molecules that are extremely sophisticated and can have unexpected applications," begins Baldomera Olivera, Ph.D., professor in biology at the University of Utah. "We were interested in using venoms to understand different pathways in the nervous system."
Conus regius, a small marine cone snail common to the Caribbean Sea, packs a venomous punch, capable of paralyzing and killing its prey.
In this study, the researchers found that a compound isolated from snail's venom, Rg1A, acts on a pain pathway distinct from that targeted by opioid drugs. Using rodent models, the scientists showed that α9α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) functions as a pain pathway receptor and that RgIA4 is an effective compound to block this receptor. The pathway adds to a small number of nonopioid-based pathways that could be further developed to treat chronic pain.
Interestingly, the duration of the pain relief is long, greatly outlasting the presence of the compound in the animal's system.
The compound works its way through the body in 4 hours, but the scientists found the beneficial effects lingered. "We found that the compound was still working 72 hours after the injection, still preventing pain," said J. Michael McIntosh, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah Health Sciences. The duration of the outcome may suggest that the snail compound has a restorative effect on some components of the nervous system.
"What is particularly exciting about these results is the aspect of prevention," said McIntosh. "Once chronic pain has developed, it is difficult to treat. This compound offers a potential new pathway to prevent pain from developing in the first place and offer a new therapy to patients who have run out of options."
The researchers will continue to the next step of pre-clinical testing to investigate the safety and effectiveness of a new drug therapy.
Journal Reference:
Inhibition of α9α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors prevents chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, PNAS, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1621433114
Related Articles:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-08-scientists-safe-non-addictive-opioid-analgesic.html
Related Stories
Scientists Take big Step Toward Finding Non-Addictive Painkiller:
With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country.
And they may have done just that, though in an animal model.
Known as AT-121, the new chemical compound has dual therapeutic action that suppressed the addictive effects of opioids and produced morphine-like analgesic effects in non-human primates.
"In our study, we found AT-121 to be safe and non-addictive, as well as an effective pain medication," said Mei-Chuan Ko, Ph.D., professor of physiology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
"In addition, this compound also was effective at blocking abuse potential of prescription opioids, much like buprenorphine does for heroin, so we hope it could be used to treat pain and opioid abuse."
The findings are published in the Aug. 29 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:32PM
So, will it be $100000 per injection, or will the opioid manufacturers use their billions to convince people it's unsafe?
We can't allow allow full pain relief, it's a major market driving force!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Tuesday February 21 2017, @10:47PM
You're absolutely right about the new drug being $100,000 per injection. The drug manufacturer will have a program to help people who are unable to pay their part of the cost after insurance. This of course is the scam. Milk the insurance for the absolute most they can wring out of it. Then 'help' the end customer so that they only have a $5 copay on a $100,000 injection.
Example: HUMIRA, about $800 per injection. Fantastic insurance makes this only $25 per injection. Then the drug manufacturer 'helps' to bring the copay from whatever it was, in this case $25 down to $5. But they would have brought any amount of copay down to $5 for the patient. The drug manufacturer gives the patient a card for the program. The pharmacy simply bills that card as a 2nd insurance after the primary insurance. It's a pretty neat scam, if it weren't so awful. Somebody surely must be paying those insurance costs. Gee, I wonder who that could possibly be? Hmmmm.
As for pain relief, whether opioids (tablets) offer complete relief depends on the amount of pain. If you take enough of them, say for kidney stones, they can induce nausea, which is why patients can also be given anti nausea meds with the opioids. After this episode is over, some people have no problem at all stopping use of the opioids, even though they may still have plenty left over. For other pain, occasional small doses of opioids can be used by some people for years and years without becoming addicted. Some people have a great life and have no reason to get addicted. Some people expect that opioid or alcohol use could potentially affect quality of code and thus refrain.
I know that some people get addicted to anything. Alcohol. Opioids. Other drugs. I feel sorry for them. I don't judge them if it is something they could not help. But I do not understand what the appeal is.
Now, back to the cost thing. For someone who only uses opioids occasionally, under a doctor's care, refilling opioids are cheap. Really cheap. Frighteningly cheap.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday February 22 2017, @03:11AM
At the world is poorer because of that [xkcd.com]...
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 21 2017, @11:14PM
And as always, the FDA is trapped in regulatory capture, paralyzed within the labyrinthine shell of big snail.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Wednesday February 22 2017, @12:09PM
allow allow
Up his dose!
Seriously though, it's at times like this I'm thankful I have the NHS... even if it's a broken shambles.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:34PM
...ah, that feels so nice!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 21 2017, @10:51PM
Isn't venom used to make anti-venom?
Give a horse a small dose of venom every day. Gradually increase it. Horse immune system develops resistance. Eventually the dose of venom is enough to kill several horses, but horse is fine. Antibodies from horse blood can then be refined and given to humans as life saving treatment for the same particular venom. For example, snakebite.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @10:56AM
See also:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jul/01/i-inject-myself-with-snake-venom-experience [theguardian.com]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/man-makes-deadly-snakes-bite-him-160-times-in-hunt-for-human-antidote-a6825791.html [independent.co.uk]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:37PM
I hope it works out and adds another treatment to our medical knowledge, but the whole long-lasting bit is a bit troubling. I would want the details about how the long term effects actually occur before agreeing to have my nervous system modified, but perhaps I just haven't experienced enough chronic pain!
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:56PM
I knew someone that suffered a severe spinal injury that resulted in enough pain to cloud their thinking. They had some kind of painkiller that I later learned was morphine to mitigate the pain, but it... altered their personality when they'd use it.
I don't know anything about addiction, but personally I'd like any alternative to that junk be investigated before I'm in a position to need it.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @12:12AM
but personally I'd like any alternative to that junk be investigated before I'm in a position to need it.
Spoken as a person who is not in pain. A person in pain will take it to stop feeling the pain and not give a shit about consequences. Pain - REAL pain, not the aches and pains everyone gets once in a while - tends to focus you onto very short term and selfish thinking.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:40PM
Verrrrry interesting. I seem to recall good old paracetamol (Tylenol) gets part of its activity from working on the endocannabinoid system, as it becomes essentially an anandamide reuptake inhibitor. It's strange that the nicotinic receptors control nociception though; aren't they usually more involved with memory and motion?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by ese002 on Tuesday February 21 2017, @08:58PM
Side effects, toxicity, addiction, manufacturability. Having an alternate to opioids is a very good thing but this is early research. It is going to be a while, if ever, before you get a bottle of snail venom extract from your local pharmacy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:15PM
More likely a 25 year prison sentence for possessing a controlled substance in form of the snail or its venom.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Booga1 on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:15PM
I heard about snail venom being the next big thing for pain relief at least ten years ago. It's "been a while" already. However, they really should get it into pill form. Injections are going to be a sticking point for some.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:26PM
I'd be worried about receptor overgrowth, mostly, like what happens with some drugs. Anything potent enough to exhibit an inhibitory effect three freaking days *after* its metabolites are cleared probably makes the body upregulate and produce new receptors like mad to handle the influx; what happens once the drug is withdrawn? And a quick gander at Ye Olde Wikie for "nicotinic receptors" shows that 1) these things are all over the place and 2) they are involved in a LOT of low-level bodily processes.
The saving grace here is that these conotoxin derivatives seem to be very, very receptor-specific, but we still need to do long-term studies on the stuff...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday February 22 2017, @12:59PM
we still need to do long-term studies on the stuff...
Well, that's why god designed all the helpful animals for us as test objects, right? Some of them are so close, it even fooled people in believing we "evolved" together ;-)
(Sorry, I just could not resist to impersonate a pro-science creationist.)
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by Bobs on Tuesday February 21 2017, @10:01PM
It is going to be a while, if ever, before you get a bottle of snail venom extract from your local pharmacy.
But you can get the homeopathic version next week!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 21 2017, @10:54PM
Can't you get that from your water tap right now and just put the appropriate label on it?
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(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday February 22 2017, @12:11AM
Some homeopathic remedies actually have trace active ingredients:
FDA: Homeopathic teething gels may have killed 10 babies, sickened 400 [arstechnica.com]
(Soylent news covered it, but I was not able to find the search bar)
The parent may have been a more direct reference to this:
Our Story [zicam.com].
In my quick searching, I was not able to find an explicit reference: but, IIRC, the zinc that made up something like ~10% of the product was not officially declared an active ingredient. In case you don't recall the story: the FDA issued a recall [fda.gov] after 130 people lost their sense of smell.