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Dextro-naltrexone
Dextro-naltrexone is a potential treatment proposed by Jarred Younger for chronic pain, fatigue, and cognitive disorders related to brain inflammation, theoretically with similar benefits to low dose naltrexone but without the harsh side effects which necessitate limiting the dose.[1]
Theory
Dextro-naltrexone is the right-handed stereoisomer of the drug naltrexone. Stereoisomers are molecules that have the same chemical formula and atoms, but are mirror images of each other.
Like the levo- (left-handed) form of naltrexone used as low-dose naltrexone (LDN), which some patients have reported is somewhat effective for conditions like ME/CFS, Long COVID, and fibromyalgia[2][3][4], dextro-naltrexone is theorized to cross the blood-brain barrier and calm activated microglia cells in the brain. Overactive microglia release inflammatory chemicals that contribute to symptoms like pain, fatigue, and cognitive impairment.
However, while levo-naltrexone (LDN) also acts as an opioid receptor antagonist, blocking the body's natural opioids and causing side effects like dysphoria and malaise, dextro-naltrexone is not expected to have this opioid-blocking effect.[5] This key difference means dextro-naltrexone could potentially be dosed higher than LDN to achieve greater anti-inflammatory and symptom relief benefits, without being limited by the harsh side effects that restrict LDN dosing.
Evidence
As yet, dextro-naltrexone has never been used in humans. Younger and his lab hope to secure funding in late 2024 to subsequently pursue human safety and efficacy trials.[1]
Clinicians
Risks and safety
Cost and availability
See also
Learn more
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Younger, Jarred (April 22, 2024). "013 - Dextronaltrexone for Chronic Pain and Fatigue" (video). youtube.com. Neuroinflammation, Pain, and Fatigue Lab at UAB.
- ↑ Bolton, Monica Jane; Chapman, Bryan Paul; Van Marwijk, Harm (January 6, 2020). "Low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome". BMJ case reports. 13 (1): e232502. doi:10.1136/bcr-2019-232502. ISSN 1757-790X. PMC 6954765. PMID 31911410.
- ↑ Bonilla, Hector; Tian, Lu; Marconi, Vincent C.; Shafer, Robert; McComsey, Grace A.; Miglis, Mitchel; Yang, Philip; Bonilla, Andres; Eggert, Lauren; Geng, Linda N. (November 2023). "Low-dose naltrexone use for the management of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19". International Immunopharmacology. 124: 110966. doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110966. ISSN 1567-5769. PMC 11028858. PMID 37804660.
- ↑ Driver, C. Noelle; D’Souza, Ryan S. (April 2023). "Efficacy of Low-Dose Naltrexone and Predictors of Treatment Success or Discontinuation in Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain Conditions: A Fourteen-Year, Enterprise-Wide Retrospective Analysis". Biomedicines. 11 (4): 1087. doi:10.3390/biomedicines11041087. ISSN 2227-9059. PMC 10135963. PMID 37189705.
- ↑ Younger, Jarred; Parkitny, Luke; McLain, David (April 1, 2014). "The use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) as a novel anti-inflammatory treatment for chronic pain". Clinical Rheumatology. 33 (4): 451–459. doi:10.1007/s10067-014-2517-2. ISSN 1434-9949.
