Is commercial kratom being spiked with a naturally occurring potent opioid

  3.5 out of 5 stars Suspected Adulteration of Commercial Kratom Products with 7-Hydroxymitragynine. Lydecker AG et al. J Med Toxicol 2016;12:341-349. Abstract This well done paper provides — among other things — a helpful short review kratom, a psychoactive product  derived from the Mitragyna speciosa plant. M speciosa contains more than 40 distinct alkaloids. The primary alkaloid — mitragynine — is an opioid agonist at the mu and delta receptors. Mitragynine has about 33% the opioid potency of morphine. A minor component of M speciosa —  7-hydroxymitragynine — is a much more potent  opioid agonist with about 17 times the mu-receptor activity of morphine. However, it is normally present in only small amounts in the plant (approximately 2% of content.) This alkaloid produces much of the analgesic effect attributed to kratom. In animal models it has been shown to produce dependence, tolerance, and cross-tolerance to morphine. The effects of kratom are often described as dose-dependent, with low doses producing stimulation while higher doses produce opioid-like manifestations. This phenomenon may be related to the relative amounts of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine in the plant. This authors purchased several commercially-available kratom preparations and quantitatively analyzed the amounts of the 2 alkaloids present. They found amounts of 7-hydroxymitragynine in most of those products. They conclude: We have found multiple packaged commerci...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical 7-hydroxymitragynine kratom mitragyna speciosa Source Type: news