An experimental treatment for insomnia could help end opioid addiction by making it easier to quit.
- Withdrawal symptoms are often what lead people addicted to opioids to return to the drug.
- Researchers have wondered whether an experimental insomnia treatment called DORA-12 might help with withdrawal. Tests on rats have shown promise.
- However, the results were slightly different depending on the sex of the animal. Researchers suggest that females may be more sensitive to oxycodone and may need a different dosage.
THE DORA-12 is an investigational drug belonging to the class of receptor antagonists.orexin (DORA) currently being developed to treat insomnia. But it won’t just help you sleep better, it could also provide relief to people addicted to opioids, such asoxycodoneaccording to a study conducted by the center Scripps Research.
Opioid addiction: sleep better to avoid relapse
During opioid withdrawal, which can last several days, addicted people face a range of symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating, chills, pain, anxiety and insomnia. . The desire for relief from these disorders is the cause of many relapses. It is in this context that researchers from Scripps Research were interested in the effectiveness of experimental treatment for insomnia DORA-12 to facilitate detoxification.
“The idea behind testing this treatment was that if people or animals slept better during this withdrawal period, then when they woke up, they might not feel as much need and would not be as likely to relapse“explains Jessica Illenberger, main author from the article published in Neuropharmacology.
The team thus carried out tests with rats weaning fromoxycodone. They gave some of them the medicine for insomnia. The results showed that these animals were much less likely to resort to drugs again. Additionally, signs of opioid addiction in the brain, characterized by the number of certain types of neurons, were reversed with the use of DORA-12. And, this effect persisted even when DORA-12 had not been administered for several days.
“These results are very encouraging” entrusts Rémi Martin-Fardon, manager Works. “We hope that in the future this compound may be useful not only for treating sleep disorders, but also for drug use disorders.”
Weaning and DORA-12: different results depending on gender
The scientists also found slight differences depending on the sex of the rats. Although all rodents had fewer opioid relapses following treatment with DORA-12, the drug was less effective in females. Moreover, changes in neuron numbers appeared to be more pronounced in males. “I think it’s something really important to follow.”noted Remi Martin-Fardon in a communicated. “It may be that women are much more sensitive to the effect ofoxycodone and that different doses of treatment are necessary.“
Additional studies to verify these results and confirm the interest of DORA-12 in the treatment of addictions will have to be carried out.
