ArticleNeuropharmacology2025
Comparison of ventilatory depression by carfentanil, fentanyl, and heroin, and reversal by opioid receptor antagonists in rats.
Article in Neuropharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Characterization of anti-fentanyl antibodies as antagonists of ultra-toxic, clinically relevant or endogenous opioids.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Fentanyl and its analogs continue to drive the overdose crisis in the United States. It is unclear whether there are unique properties of fentanyls that increase the risk of opioid overdose compared with other opioid receptor agonists (e.g., heroin). This study compared the ventilatory depressant effects of the opioid receptor agonists heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil, and reversal of those effects by opioid receptor antagonists. This study used whole-body plethysmography in rats to determine the ventilatory depressant effects of heroin (178-1780 μg/kg), fentanyl (5.6-56 μg/kg), and carfentanil (0.56-5.6 μg/kg) when administered alone and in mixtures, to compare the profile of effects across drugs and determine whether there are significant interactions between the drugs when co-administered. The potencies of the opioid receptor antagonists naloxone and diprenorphine to reverse opioid-induced ventilatory depression were compared across opioid agonists. All three agonists reduced minute volume with carfentanil being ∼50- and 100-fold more potent than fentanyl and heroin, respectively. The profile of effects on ventilation did not differ across agonists and no significant drug-drug interactions were detected. Naloxone and diprenorphine dose-dependently reversed the ventilatory depressant effects of each opioid agonist. Both antagonists were less potent at reversing the effects of carfentanil compared with reversing a functionally equivalent dose of heroin. These findings suggest that fentanyl might not produce unique effects on breathing that increase risk of overdose. That naloxone and diprenorphine were less potent to reverse the effects of carfentanil compared with an equivalent dose of heroin is consistent with existing literature and emphasizes the need for continued evaluation of potential differences in pharmacological properties across opioid receptor agonists.
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Registered trials
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