Researchers at the University of Houston, Tulane University and Baylor College of Medicine believe they’ve made a breakthrough in the fight against the opioid epidemic: developing a “vaccine against fentanyl.”
In a new study on mice, the scientists administered the vaccine, followed by two booster doses, to rats and later administered fentanyl to the same rats. The fentanyl doses did not penetrate the brains of the vaccinated rats, preventing not only the “high” associated with the substance but also the lethal consequences.
“The vaccine’s preclinical results ‘demonstrate efficacy in neutralizing’ fentanyl, making it ‘a potential therapeutic for [overuse] and overdose in humans,’ the study stated.”https://t.co/Do8bifgN1C
— HumanProgress.org (@HumanProgress) November 17, 2022
“If the drug does not get into the brain, there are no effects. There are no euphoric effects, and there are no lethal affects as well,” University of Houston Associate Professor Colin Haile, who led the study, said.
Haile said the vaccine is designed for addicts who are consistent users of fentanyl, but could also protect individuals who are inadvertently exposed if it proves effective in further trials, according to ABC 13. Fentanyl has become a lead driver of record-high opioid overdose deaths in the United States, particularly as it is mixed with common recreational drugs like cocaine or heroin. More than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in the last year, a historic number.
The vaccine also did not cause any adverse side effects in the mice it was tested on, according to the researchers. (RELATED: ‘Did Joe Blow It?’: ‘The Five’ Attacks Biden For Seemingly ‘Leaving Out’ Fentanyl, COVID Origins In Meeting With Xi)
Tulane University School of Medicine researchers developed an adjuvant derived from E. coli called dmLT, which boosts immune response to vaccines and is crucial to the effectiveness of the new shot, according to the University of Houston. Critically, the antibodies built up by the vaccine were specific to fentanyl and did not halt the effectiveness of other opioids that may be legitimately used to treat addicts, such as morphine.
“The fact that they’re doing research to find these things gives us hope, because we have to do something. What we’re doing today is not working,” Greenhouse Treatment Center’s Philip Van Guilder told ABC 13.