Over 47,500 people died as the result of drug overdoses involving opioids in 2017.
Credit: Yosef RobeleResearchers at Penn's School of Nursing have conducted a new study aimed at finding treatments to combat opioid use disorders.
This is Penn's latest attempt to focus studies on combating opioid addiction amid the current national epidemic. Over 47,500 people died as the result of drug overdoses involving opioids in 2017, more than double the amount recorded in 2007.
The study, led by Nursing postdoctoral fellow Yafang Zhang and published last month in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, looked at a specific receptor for the hormone GLP-1 that is found throughout the body. Researchers found that stimulating this receptor with a certain drug reduced oxycodone-seeking behavior and oxycodone self-administration in rats.
This is the first research indicating that these receptors, known as GLP-1, play a role in opioid reinforcement.
Penn Medicine announced the launch of a new Addiction Center for Excellence this past August to study various aspects of opioid addiction and the most effective methods of treatment, funded via a five-year, $8.9 million grant by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The National Institutes of Health have also granted Penn Medicine $22 million to support opioid-related research.
Other Penn researchers have also studied opioid addiction and treatment. One Penn Med study, published in September, found that prescriptions for opioids following eye surgery doubled between 2000 and 2014.
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