Is commercial kratom being spiked with a naturally occurring potent opioid
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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: Leon Gussow Tags: Medical 7-hydroxymitragynine kratom mitragyna speciosa Source Type: news
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