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Cited by 5Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmiasForensic Toxicology and Drug AnalysisIon channel regulation and function

Nitazene opioids and the heart: Identification of a cardiac ion channel target for illicit nitazene opioids

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Hancox, Jules C., Wang, Yibo, Copeland, Caroline S., Zhang, Henggui, Harmer, Stephen C., Henderson, Graeme·2024·Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus
DOI 10.1016/j.jmccpl.2024.100118PMC PMC11649529
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Abstract

The growing use of nitazene synthetic opioids heralds a new phase of the opioid crisis. However, limited information exists on the toxic effects of these drugs, aside from a propensity for respiratory depression. With restricted research availability of nitazenes, we used machine-learning-based tools to evaluate five nitazene compounds' interaction potential with the hERG potassium channel, a key drug antitarget in the heart. All nitazenes were predicted to inhibit hERG with low μM IC 50 values. These findings indicate a potential for proarrhythmic hERG block by nitazene opioids, warranting detailed cardiac safety evaluations of these drugs.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jmccpl.2024.100118

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  • Nitazenes may carry cardiotoxic potential; computational analyses predict a high probability of hERG potassium channel inhibition, raising concerns about proarrhythmic effects.

    “In addition, nitazenes may carry cardiotoxic potential; computational analyses predict a high probability of hERG potassium channel inhibition, raising concerns about proarrhythmic effects [38,39,40].”

    From Nitazenes: The Emergence of a Potent Synthetic Opioid Threat (2025) · cites this paper as [38]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hancox, J. C., Wang, Y., Copeland, C. S., Zhang, H., Harmer, S. C., & Henderson, G.
Affiliations
  • University of Manchester (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • University of Bristol (GB)
Corresponding author
Hancox, Jules C.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-12
Volume
10
Pages
100118
ISSN
2772-9761 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jmccpl.2024.100118
PMC
PMC11649529
OpenAlex
W4403634135
Cited by
5
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3
FWCI
1.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
British Heart Foundation (PG/23/11356, FS/PhD/29563, FS/PhD/24/29563)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ion channel regulation and function
Keywords
synthetic opioids, hERG, drug-induced arrhythmia, drug repurposing, machine learning prediction, cardiac safety, opioid epidemic

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