Unregulated use of fentanyl and overdose deaths have increased dramatically in recent years, and this trend was made more alarming when authorities found fentanyl laced with the animal tranquilizer xylazine. Some addiction specialists and public health officials feared the added xylazine would impede the fast-acting effects of the drug naloxone, which can effectively treat patients experiencing respiratory depression – a serious side effect of opioid use that can lead to death.

In a recent research discovery published in the journal Addiction Neuroscience, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that xylazine is a kappa opioid receptor agonist, meaning it activates kappa opioid receptors in the same way fentanyl activates opioid receptors. This result was surprising because previously xylazine was thought to only bind to the α₂-adrenergic receptor, and this finding could hint as to why withdrawal from fentanyl in combination with xylazine is so severe.

Full article: https://news.unchealthcare.org/2024/05/scientists-discover-surprising-details-about-xylazine-in-combination-with-fentanyl/