Photoactivable drugs are activated when irradiated by a beam of light - via an optical fibre - thus generating a controlled and local therapeutic effect on target tissues. Now, a scientific team has pioneered a new breakthrough in the field of photopharmacology with the design of the first wireless capable of remotely activating a phtoactivable drug and causing it to have therapeutic effects on specific organs.
This new device has demonstrated its efficacy in the treatment of pain in a study with a photosensitive molecule derived from morphine, one of the most widely used opioids because of its great analgesic capacity.
The study, carried out on animal models, opens up new perspectives for the design of safer, more effective and customizable analgesic treatments - especially in the context of chronic pain - without causing the adverse effects derived from the use of opioids (addiction, dependence, etc.).
This innovation in pharmacology is now announced in an article published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics , with Francisco Ciruela as lead author, professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona and member of the Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), and experts John Rogers, from Northwestern University (United States), Amadeu Llebaria, from the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), and Jordi Hernando, from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
Photopharmacology: the power of light
In the study, the team evaluated the effects of the wireless technology in the treatment of pain using photo-caged morphine (pc-Mor), which promotes the release of active morphine in organs and tissues affected by pain, without causing side effects.
"Photo-caged morphine is a molecule chemically modified to temporarily inactivate its analgesic function. This inactivation is achieved by the addition of a coumarin group that covalently binds to morphine via a photosensitive bond. This bond blocks the domain of morphine that is responsible for its interaction with opioid receptors", explains Francisco Ciruela.
"When the target tissue is irradiated with 405 nanometre wavelength light, the photosensitive bond is broken and the active morphine is released at the point where it should act. This allows a precise pharmacological action in space and time, i.e. it acts only where and when it is needed", the expert explains.
