Opioid-containing painkillers are virtually indispensable in clinical practice and are typically used in postoperative patients and patients undergoing cancer treatment. In addition to having severe side effects, however, these drugs have also been associated with extensive misuse, particularly in the United States. Recent findings by a team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin represent a significant step towards the development of a new generation of painkillers. Published in Scientific Reports, their findings show that tissue acidity—or tissue pH—at the source of the pain (i.e. injury) is a crucial determinant in the development of new drugs. This is because the fine-tuning of an opioid molecule’s acid dissociation constant (pKa) will determine its risk profile, including its addiction potential.
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