Researchers at Scripps Research have developed a vaccine to combat the toxicity of xylazine, a sedative causing rising overdose deaths when mixed with drugs like fentanyl. The vaccine, effective in rodents, marks a significant step toward treating this emerging threat.
Now, Scripps Research chemical biologists have developed a vaccine to block the effects of xylazine’s toxicity. The vaccine works by training the immune system to attack the drug, which is described in a recent paper published in the journal“We demonstrated that a vaccine can reverse the symptoms of a xylazine overdose in rodents,” says study senior author Kim D. Janda, PhD, the Ely R. Callaway, Jr. Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research.
In this study, the scientists combined a xylazine hapten with multiple different protein types, to see which combination would create a robust immune response against xylazine. The team tested three vaccine formulations to see which vaccine cocktail could help rodents after being challenged with xylazine. One of the three vaccines significantly increased movement in mice given xylazine after 10 minutes, while two of the three vaccines led to an improvement in breathing.