Sufentanil Citrate

van de Donk T, et al. examined the pharmacology and clinical evidence for a novel sufentanil sublingual tablet system (15 μg tablets, patient-controlled at 20-minute intervals) for managing moderate-to-severe postoperative pain. Clinical studies involving over 600 patients have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of this system, providing effective pain relief while allowing early patient mobility and analgesic control. The authors conclude that although this system represents a promising patient-controlled analgesic option, further independent studies are needed to definitively establish its role among existing postoperative pain management strategies.

Fig. 1 Plasma concentration (Cp) of sufentanil following the administration of a 15-μg dose given via the intravenous (orange), sublingual (blue) or oral (green) routes. (van de Donk T, et al., 2018)

Wu Q, et al. investigated the cardioprotective mechanism of sufentanil preconditioning using in vivo rat models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and in vitro cardiomyocyte hypoxia-reoxygenation models. Sufentanil pretreatment suppressed myocardial damage by inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial autophagy. Mechanistically, these protective effects were mediated through upregulation of miR-125a, which directly targeted and suppressed damage-regulated autophagy regulator 2 (DRAM2). Knockdown experiments confirmed that the miR-125a/DRAM2 axis is essential for the cardioprotective actions of sufentanil.

Fig. 2 Sufentanil alleviated myocardial IRI in rats by regulating miR-125a. (Wu Q, et al, 2021)