Therapeutic Potential of Kappa Opioid Agonists

Many original research articles have been published that describe findings and outline areas for the development of kappa-opioid agonists (KOAs) as novel drugs; however, a single review article that summarizes the broad potential for KOAs in drug development does not exist. It is well-established th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tyler C. Beck, Matthew A. Hapstack, Kyle R. Beck, Thomas A. Dix
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
Series:Pharmaceuticals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/12/2/95
Description
Summary:Many original research articles have been published that describe findings and outline areas for the development of kappa-opioid agonists (KOAs) as novel drugs; however, a single review article that summarizes the broad potential for KOAs in drug development does not exist. It is well-established that KOAs demonstrate efficacy in pain attenuation; however, KOAs also have proven to be beneficial in treating a variety of novel but often overlapping conditions including cardiovascular disease, pruritus, nausea, inflammatory diseases, spinal anesthesia, stroke, hypoxic pulmonary hypertension, multiple sclerosis, addiction, and post-traumatic cartilage degeneration. This article summarizes key findings of KOAs and discusses the untapped therapeutic potential of KOAs in the treatment of many human diseases.
ISSN:1424-8247