Scientists may have found a new use for an old medication. Trifluoperazine, sold as Stelazine, is one of the older phenothiazine medications that has been used for years to treat schizophrenia. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago injected a small dose of trifluoperazine into mice who were addicted to morphine. The researchers reported that the mice lost their addiction within a few hours. This is reportedly the first time any study has shown trifluoperazine to have anti-addictive properties.
Opioid medications such as morphine are commonly used in pain management, but some patients hesitate to take them because of concerns over addiction. It's too soon to know if trifluoperazine will be effective in reducing the addictive potential of opiates in humans. Medications like trifluoperazine have largely been replaced by newer "atypical" antipsychotic medications which have fewer side-effects. Lingering concerns about side-effects such as tardive dyskenesia may make it harder for pain patients to swallow.
Reference:
Lei Tang1, Pradeep K. Shukla1 and Zaijie Jim Wang. Trifluoperazine, an orally available clinically used drug, disrupts opioid antinociceptive tolerance. Neuroscience Letters, Available online 27 December 2005.
