Beginning in the mid-1990s, opioid-related morbidity and mortality has soared in response to a three-wave epidemic driven by (1) the misregulation of prescription opioids, (2) subsequent demand for heroin, and (3) the insidious rise of synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified this public health crisis, with annual opioid-related deaths increasing to a record high of 80,816 in 2021. Opioid-related overdose deaths during the pandemic notably increased by 30% and 15% in 2020 and 2021, respectively. This unabated public health catastrophe requires urgent intervention and offers an opportunity for innovative pharmacological development. Frontiers in Pharmacology will highlight these efforts in a Research Topic featuring recent initiatives to combat the opioid crisis, particularly emphasizing new strategies for treating opioid use disorder, improvements in pain management, and advances in overdose reversal.
Pharmacotherapy will be required to combat the opioid crisis. In this regard, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has identified three key research areas for pharmacological innovation: (1) advances in opioid overdose reversal, new treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD), and improvements in pain management. Examples of such research include the redesign of opioid therapeutics to maximize pain relief and minimize adverse effects (SAR, biased agonists, dopamine D3 antagonist combination therapy), the development of potent non-opioid pain medications, the development of therapeutics to excite respiration and reverse overdose (AMPAkines, 5-HT1A receptor agonists), and novel development in treating OUD (immunopharmacotherapy, 5-HT2C receptor agonists). We invite submissions to this Research Topic from a wide array of scientific disciplines, most notably medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, chemical biology, biochemistry, psychiatry, and neuroscience. The unifying theme for this Research Topic will emphasize recent advances in chemical and biologic interventions for the opioid crisis. Our goal is to offer the scientific community an up-to-date resource that inspires a timelier pace of new drug discovery in this arena.
The editorial team is interested in the following manuscript types: original research, systematic reviews, methods, protocols, reviews, mini reviews, policy and practice reviews, hypothesis and theory articles, perspectives/commentaries, clinical trials, perspectives, case reports, community case studies, data reports, and brief research reports.
We are interested in receiving submissions highlighting, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Molecular targets for pharmacological intervention
- Drug discovery (screening, rational design, SAR, in vitro & in vivo evaluation)
- Clinical trials (completed & on-going)
- Advances in opioid overdose reversal
- New strategies for treating opioid use disorder (OUD)
- Improvements in pain management
- Redesign of opioid scaffolds
- Biased opioid receptor agonists
- Non-opioid pain medications
- AMPAkines
- 5-HT1A receptor agonists
- Immunopharmacotherapy/vaccines for Drugs of Abuse
- 5-HT2C receptor agonists
Beginning in the mid-1990s, opioid-related morbidity and mortality has soared in response to a three-wave epidemic driven by (1) the misregulation of prescription opioids, (2) subsequent demand for heroin, and (3) the insidious rise of synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified this public health crisis, with annual opioid-related deaths increasing to a record high of 80,816 in 2021. Opioid-related overdose deaths during the pandemic notably increased by 30% and 15% in 2020 and 2021, respectively. This unabated public health catastrophe requires urgent intervention and offers an opportunity for innovative pharmacological development. Frontiers in Pharmacology will highlight these efforts in a Research Topic featuring recent initiatives to combat the opioid crisis, particularly emphasizing new strategies for treating opioid use disorder, improvements in pain management, and advances in overdose reversal.
Pharmacotherapy will be required to combat the opioid crisis. In this regard, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has identified three key research areas for pharmacological innovation: (1) advances in opioid overdose reversal, new treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD), and improvements in pain management. Examples of such research include the redesign of opioid therapeutics to maximize pain relief and minimize adverse effects (SAR, biased agonists, dopamine D3 antagonist combination therapy), the development of potent non-opioid pain medications, the development of therapeutics to excite respiration and reverse overdose (AMPAkines, 5-HT1A receptor agonists), and novel development in treating OUD (immunopharmacotherapy, 5-HT2C receptor agonists). We invite submissions to this Research Topic from a wide array of scientific disciplines, most notably medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, chemical biology, biochemistry, psychiatry, and neuroscience. The unifying theme for this Research Topic will emphasize recent advances in chemical and biologic interventions for the opioid crisis. Our goal is to offer the scientific community an up-to-date resource that inspires a timelier pace of new drug discovery in this arena.
The editorial team is interested in the following manuscript types: original research, systematic reviews, methods, protocols, reviews, mini reviews, policy and practice reviews, hypothesis and theory articles, perspectives/commentaries, clinical trials, perspectives, case reports, community case studies, data reports, and brief research reports.
We are interested in receiving submissions highlighting, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Molecular targets for pharmacological intervention
- Drug discovery (screening, rational design, SAR, in vitro & in vivo evaluation)
- Clinical trials (completed & on-going)
- Advances in opioid overdose reversal
- New strategies for treating opioid use disorder (OUD)
- Improvements in pain management
- Redesign of opioid scaffolds
- Biased opioid receptor agonists
- Non-opioid pain medications
- AMPAkines
- 5-HT1A receptor agonists
- Immunopharmacotherapy/vaccines for Drugs of Abuse
- 5-HT2C receptor agonists