There May Be A Safer, Non-Addictive Alternative To Morphine

New findings published in the journal Neuropharmacology examine an effective, yet non-addictive alternative to morphine. Opium-based drugs have been extremely helpful in treating certain types of chronic pain. However, they can be highly addictive.

Researchers at Tulane University and Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System used rats in the study to compare engineered variants of the neurochemical endomorphin to measure both the effectiveness and potential side-effects; these drugs target the same pain-relieving opioid receptor as morphine, researchers say.

"These side effects were absent or reduced with the new drug," said lead investigator James Zadina, VA senior research career scientist and professor of medicine, pharmacology and neuroscience at Tulane University School of Medicine, in a news release. "It's unprecedented for a peptide to deliver such powerful pain relief with so few side effects."

Findings showed that when researchers exposed the rats to a similarly potent dosage of the new endomorphoin drug, the rats had longer pain relief without substantially slowed breathing when compared to the same amount of morphine.

Some of the other benefits found with the new new endomorphin was less impairment of motor coordination--particularly among older adults. The new drug also did not produce spinal glial cell activation, according to researchers, which is an inflammatory effect of morhpine that contributes to tolerance. 

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