Dezocine and Addiction: Friend or Foe?

The neurological effects of opium were first described over 8000 years ago. Morphine was isolated in 1803 and by the mid-1800s had become both a pain-relieving blessing and an addictive curse. As part of the crusade to identify safer and more reliable alternatives to morphine, dezocine (Dalgan^®) was marketed in the US in 1986. Its use was discontinued in the US in 2011 without revealing the reasons, but it remains one of the most widely used analgesic agents in China today. Dezocine's unique pharmacology makes it an effective analgesic with limited opioid-associated side effects and little or no reported potential for dependence and addiction. In addition, dezocine's blocking effect on serotonin and norepinephrine transporters recommends its further exploration as a potential treatment for various chronic and neuropathic pain conditions. Most recently, data suggest that dezocine might represent a viable treatment for addiction management. This report focuses on the data supporting dezocine's non-addictive profile and its potential use to treat opioid addiction and withdrawal, as well as recent efforts to generate formulations of dezocine that support sub-chronic and chronic dosing.