A dangerous substance dubbed “gas station heroin” continues to alarm medical professionals, with more states making moves to restrict or ban tianeptine.

Fourteen states have officially classified the tricyclic antidepressant as a Schedule I controlled substance.

Connecticut is the latest state to crack down, officially banning the sale and use of the substance starting on Wednesday.

HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE AVAILABLE IN STORES ACROSS THE NATION

Tianeptine, which can produce euphoria in higher doses, can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some countries have taken steps to restrict how tianeptine is prescribed or dispensed, and have even revised the labels to warn people of its potential addictive qualities.

Misuse of tianeptine can cause severe adverse health effects, including respiratory depression, severe sedation and death, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Some companies market the drug as an aid for pain, anxiety and depression, or as a means of improving mental alertness in a pill, powder, salt or liquid form.

The products are typically sold at convenience stores, gas stations, vape shops and online retailers, and go by names like Tianaa, ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and TD Red.

Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said in a press release that the schedule change is a necessary step to combat addiction.

“With false marketing that led consumers to believe these are safe products, and with candy-like flavor options, these substances posed a clear threat to those battling substance-use disorder and our youngest residents,” she added.

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The Nutmeg State also added Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), 7-hydroxymitragynine, Bromazolam, Flubromazolam, Nitazenes and Phenibut to the schedule classification.

Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary penned a letter sounding the alarm on what he called a “dangerous and growing health trend.”

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“I am very concerned,” Makary wrote. “I want the public to be especially aware of this dangerous product and the serious and continuing risk it poses to America’s youth.”

New York-based Robert Schwaner, M.D., vice chair of system clinical affairs at Stony Brook Emergency Medicine, told Fox News Digital that the FDA has never approved tianeptine as a dietary supplement.

“The euphoria at low doses is primarily due to increased serotonergic activity from its serotonin reuptake effects. With increasing doses, the mu-opioid receptor stimulation may become lethal,” said Schwaner. “As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.”

Schwaner said he believes the substance requires national regulation due to its addictive qualities. 

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“Acting at the same receptor as opioids, tianeptine has the potential for an individual to develop tolerance, subsequent dependence and withdrawal from its use,” he cautioned.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.

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A hormone traditionally used to treat bone loss may hold the key to stopping chronic back pain at its source, according to a new study.

Chronic back pain is often linked to the deterioration of spinal discs and vertebral end plates, which are the thin layers of tissue separating the discs from the vertebrae, according to medical sources.

When these break down, they become porous, allowing nerves that aren’t usually impacted to enter the spinal center, leading to frequent discomfort.

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Research led by Dr. Janet L. Crane at Johns Hopkins University found the parathyroid hormone (PTH) could prevent and even reverse the growth of pain-sensing nerves into damaged areas of the spine.

Parathyroid glands naturally produce PTH, which experts say plays a key role in regulating calcium levels and bone remodeling.

These findings could shift the focus of back pain treatment from managing symptoms to modifying the underlying issue, according to scientists.

“During spinal degeneration, pain-sensing nerves grow into regions where they normally do not exist. Our findings show that parathyroid hormone can reverse this process by activating natural signals that push these nerves away,” Crane said in a press release.

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Synthetic versions of PTH are already used to treat osteoporosis. Earlier research hinted that these treatments might also reduce bone-related pain, but the underlying biological mechanism was not well understood.

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Using animal models, the Johns Hopkins researchers found that one to two months of PTH treatment led to denser, more stable vertebral endplates. 

More significantly, the treatment triggered bone-building cells, known as osteoblasts, to produce a protein called Slit3, the study detailed.

The study found that this protein repels growing nerve fibers, preventing them from infiltrating sensitive regions of the spine.

When the researchers removed Slit3 from mice, the hormone’s pain-relieving effects disappeared, confirming the protein’s critical role in the process.

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PTH is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat osteoporosis. Some patients receiving the hormone for bone density have reported unexpected relief from back pain, a phenomenon this study could help explain.

“Our study suggests that PTH treatment of [lower back pain] during spinal degeneration may reduce aberrant innervation (abnormal nerve growth),” Crane concluded.

The doctor said this research lays the foundation for future clinical trials that will explore PTH’s effectiveness as a disease-modifying and pain-relieving treatment for spinal degeneration.

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Researchers noted several limitations, including the possibility that PTH treatment could affect the central nervous system in ways not fully explored in this study.

Because the study focused specifically on the Slit3 protein, further research is needed to determine how other genetic factors and bone-forming processes might influence spinal nerve growth and pain relief.

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The study was published in the journal Bone Research.