The use of synthetic opiates like fentanyl is the main cause of the 100,000 deaths of Americans from overdoses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Naloxone, the only available antidote for opiate overdose, has increased in popularity, but it is less effective against synthetic opioids of the fentanyl class.
Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, has a new way to reverse its effects, according to researchers at Indiana University. Their research, which was published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, may pave the way for a brand-new drug or naloxone that works simultaneously to reverse overdoses.
According to Alex Straiker, senior research scientist at the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science,” The synthetic opiates bind to the opioid receptors very tightly.” To