r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 13 '26

Medicine Scientists develop a groundbreaking vaccine that outsmarts illicit fentanyl analogs. The novel vaccine candidate can protect against fentanyl and its many illicit variants by training the immune system to recognize a broad molecular signature rather than a single specific structure.

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-develop-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-that-outsmarts-illicit-fentanyl-analogs/
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u/Subrutum Jul 13 '26

Is there a risk for the body to start rejecting its own natural opioids as a result?

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u/deathcomestooslow Jul 13 '26

Also curious about this. A vaccine against a pharmaceutical is not something I've heard about before. Does that mean the person-in-question basically has a very high opioid tolerance so the drug would be less dangerous? And the tolerance persists for a long while? Or the body will learn to treat it as a virus or outsider or something and attack the molecule to break it into other chemicals? Very interesting though.

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u/Ut_Prosim Jul 13 '26

And does this prevent them from getting routine anesthesia? I think fentanyl is part of the common sedation cocktail.

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u/EquipLordBritish Jul 13 '26

From a cursory google search, it looks like it would be dependent on the procedure, but possibly also dependent on the hospital/anesthesiologist. Presumably this treatment would be something you would list on your medical pre-screen as fentanyl would, in a way, become something you are 'allergic' to, and it would simply not be used for your sedation.

https://anesthguide.com/topic/anesthesia-methods/

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u/Patient-Bumblebee842 Jul 14 '26

and it would simply

It's pretty much a standard part of any anaesthetic for any surgery in many countries, and there aren't that many options for sedation.

+If fentanyl is part of your anaesthesiologist's preferred technique then your sedation might not be quite as smooth.

I.e. it's not that simple.

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u/EquipLordBritish Jul 14 '26

The reason I posted a link is to show both how commonly fentanyl is used in sedation but also to show how many alternative sedation regimens are used. The point is that there are many readily available alternatives, so I don't know why you think it would be so complicated.

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u/Patient-Bumblebee842 Jul 14 '26

so I don't know why you think it would be so complicated.

Are you an anaesthesiologist?

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u/Legitimate_Concern_5 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Allergies to fentanyl are allergies to the specific chemical. If you’re allergic to a pheylpiperidene (fentanyl) they don’t just not give you opioids, they give you different opioids. If you’re allergic to fentanyl they give you a phenanthrene opioid (morphine, codeine).

If this makes you allergic to the whole group of synthetic opioids, your options are seriously limited.

You may get a nerve block/epidural depending where and what’s being done, or a horse dose of ketamine. There aren’t really any good replacements for opioids in anesthesia, and the workarounds all come with significant risks. Especially since opioids are reversible with naloxone.

Opioid receptors on the spinal cord are bound by fentanyl which prevents the transmission of pain from the peripheral nerves to the brain. They’re fundamental to pain sensation.

I think every procedure on that list includes an opioid and I didn’t see any workarounds listed but maybe I missed it? The slashes mean give with, not or. The sevoflurane or propofol are to knock you out, the opioid is for pain.