UF researchers discover drug for overdose treatment
Two University of Florida researchers helped discover a capsule they think could save the lives of people who overdose on antidepressants by soaking up excess quantities from heart cells.
Professor Randy Duran and student Aleksa Jovanic joined other researchers at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., on Tuesday to explain how nanocapsules sop up amitriptyline. The common antidepressant causes heart attacks in overdose quantities and contributes to the 300,000 cases of drug overdose cases treated annually at the nation's trauma centers, university spokesman Aaron Hoover said. At Tuesday's meeting, Duran and others explained how tiny nanocapsules containing ethylbutyrate oil combines with amitriptyline molecules, essentially sopping up the heart-stopping antidepressant. Hoover said Duran's is the latest in a series of nanocapsule technologies being studied as cures for drug overdoses. Duran and other researchers have patented their application, but have not begun to seek Food and Drug Administration approval. To date, the nanocapsules have been shown to absorb amitriptyline from the heart cells of rodents. FDA approval would require tests on humans.
The research discussed Tuesday was funded by the National Science Foundation, a publicly funded independent agency of the federal government.
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