New Opioid DFNZ Shows Pain Relief Without Addiction Risk in Rat Tests
Scientists tested a new opioid called DFNZ in lab rats and found it relieved pain without causing addiction or breathing problems. The drug, known as N-desethyl-fluornitrazene, comes from a long-abandoned class of painkillers called nitazenes.
Scientists have developed a new opioid painkiller that might solve one of medicine's biggest problems: how to treat severe pain without causing addiction.
The drug, called DFNZ or N-desethyl-fluornitrazene, comes from nitazenes - a class of painkillers that drug companies abandoned decades ago. In tests with lab rats, DFNZ provided strong pain relief but didn't cause the addiction or breathing problems that make current opioids so dangerous.
The research team found that DFNZ worked differently in the brain than morphine and other common opioids. While it still targets the same pain receptors, it doesn't trigger the reward pathways that lead to addiction.
Interestingly, the scientists noted that people who have used similar drugs recreationally report they don't produce the "high" that makes other opioids addictive.
The opioid crisis has killed over 500,000 Americans since 1999, mostly because current painkillers are highly addictive and can slow breathing to dangerous levels. Doctors often struggle to balance treating patients' pain with avoiding addiction risks.
This could lead to safer pain medication for millions of people who need strong painkillers but want to avoid addiction. Current opioids like morphine cause thousands of overdose deaths each year because they're highly addictive and slow breathing.
Researchers will need to test DFNZ in human trials before it could become available as medicine.
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