UF researchers identify safer pathway for pain relief

University of Florida scientists have helped identify a novel drug compound that selectively activates pain-altering receptors in the body, offering a potentially safer alternative to conventional pain medications.

In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers describe how this drug compound provides pain relief without the dangerous side effects commonly associated with opioids administered to patients. The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

The human body relies on three kinds of opioid receptors to regulate pain, much like traffic control systems on a busy highway. Understanding these pathways is key to developing safer pain treatments. Medications working at mu receptors stop pain traffic to provide rapid relief, but with risks like dangerous respiratory depression and addiction. Most current pain medications target the mu receptor, but UF researchers are pioneering a new strategy focused on the delta opioid receptor, which could offer pain relief with fewer side effects.