American researchers at the University of Minnesota are currently testing a vaccine to fight opioid dependence and prevent fatal overdoses.
In the United States, dependence on heroin and opiates is considered one of the major health problems, especially since the country is currently experiencing one of the most serious attacks of overdoses. As our colleagues from Release, more than 64,000 people died of an overdose in 2016 in the United States, including 42,000 from opiates.
Vaccines offer a potential new strategy for treating opioid abuse and preventing fatal overdoses. In July 2017, the Scripps Research Institute (United States) successfully tested a vaccine that helps fight addiction to this psychoactive substance. In mice and monkeys, the approach allowed the organism to defend itself effectively.
Vaccines are an opportunity
A team of scientists from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation are developing vaccines against heroin and opiates, such as oxycodone or fentanyl, very potent painkillers prescribed only by prescription.
These vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies that target and attach to these molecules, preventing them from reaching opioid receptors in the brain in order to to remove their hovering effects. The advantage of these vaccines is that the effect is obtained once and for all, no need for repeated doses. The limitation is that they block a limited number of opioid molecules and should instead be considered as a complementary treatment.
Satisfactory immune response in rodents
The research team’s preclinical studies have been published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Scientific Reports and PLOS ONE. In rodents, the vaccines supposed to neutralize the high effects of heroin and oxycodone have elicited a satisfactory immune response and are shown to be very effective in reducing the spread of opioids in the brain. The researchers also indicate that the vaccine against the effects of oxycodone may be more effective in humans if oxycodone is administered orally.
But that’s not all. Preclinical studies show that these vaccines may help reduce addiction-related behaviors, including self-administration of opioids, which some consumers are able to obtain without a prescription for recreational use.
Prevent fatal overdoses
Finally, the study authors say that these vaccines appear reliable and may help prevent the opioid-induced respiratory depression that is characteristic of a fatal opioid overdose. These vaccines could be used as an adjunct to drugs currently approved for treating opioid dependence, such as methadone, naltrexone, buprenorphine and naloxone.
Encouraging results, even if we will probably have to wait a little longer to see these vaccines reach the pharmaceutical market, the scientists temper. “Opioid vaccines have promising preclinical efficacy, but there is still a long way from laboratory to clinic,” said Marco Pravetoni, professor in the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
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