A phase 2 compound created by Irvine, Calif-based neuroscience company Cortex Pharmaceuticals demonstrated, in recent research, the rescue of fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and sleep apnea in rats. In the same study, published in the June issue of Anesthesiology, CX717 demonstrated equal efficacy with the opioid antagonist naloxone, a drug used to counter the effects of opioids on suppression of breathing.

These animal studies were later replicated in two phase 2 respiratory depression clinical studies involving 40 human volunteers in Germany.

The compound, called AMPAKINE CX717, may be able to help patients whose pain cannot be treated effectively with opioids due to the unwanted side effect of a depression of breathing, according to the researchers.

Investigators tested the hypothesis that the AMPAKINE molecule can stimulate breathing without interfering with the ameliorative effects of analgesics, according to the study, which notes that AMPAKINE compounds act on the most common excitatory receptor in the brain, the AMPA-type glutamate receptor.

“When these rats were administered AMPAKINE CX717 after taking the opiate, their breathing came back very strong," lead author John J. Greer, PhD, stated in an official release. "During the study, CX717 was shown not only to protect breathing rates; it also demonstrated the potential to prevent upper airways from collapsing. We then co-administered the AMPAKINE with the opiate as a cocktail, and found that the rats did not experience respiratory depression.”

The results suggest, according to the authors, that high-risk postoperative surgical patients who receive AMPAKINE before the procedure could have a reduced risk of respiratory depression during the operation.