Honors Theses
Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biomolecular Sciences
First Advisor
Christopher McCurdy
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Opioid use has become prevalent in today's culture. As a treatment for acute and chronic pain, opioids permeate in the public sphere as a seemingly easy solution. However, problems that come from the increased use of opiates, especially in the last fifteen years, have shown detrimental effects in society. Not only are all opioid-based analgesics considered addictive, but the nature of such painkillers also enables a phenomenon known as tolerance, where the body adapts to the use of exogenous opioids. This creates a situation where a more potent dose of painkiller is required for the same analgesic effect. The focus of this research was to synthesize possible dual-acting opioid receptor agonists and NPFF antagonists through multi-step organic reactions. The neuropeptide FF, or NPFF, receptor system is theorized to work in conjunction with the opioid receptor system to modulate the body's pain and pain relief functions in a homeostatic manner. The creation of a compound with that enhances opioid activity while minimizing NPFF participation may lead to analgesics with reduced abuse and tolerance capabilities. The design and synthesis of the compound was inspired by changes to the structure of previously tested molecules. Using VBJ192 as a comparative model, the aromatic ring on the piperidine nitrogen was replaced with a cyclohexane ring to test changes to opioid/NPFF receptor affinity and activity. Final compound JY08 showed greater selectivity for and higher activity at the μ opioid receptor subclass.
Recommended Citation
Yi, John N., "Design and Synthesis of Dual Opioids/NPFF Ligands as Novel Analgesics with Reduced Tolerance Potential" (2016). Honors Theses. 468.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/468
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