5 ms·

If it is being scheduled, it must work! Why would the DEA spend time and money to legislate kratom unless a party with a vested interest, like a large pharmaceu

by pgt 10y ago

If it is being scheduled, it must work! Why would the DEA spend time and money to legislate kratom unless a party with a vested interest, like a large pharmaceutical company, could profit from its controlled sale? Can anyone point out evidence of harm from the use of kratom?

GordonS 10y ago
There is actually a reasonable amount of literature on kratom, so it is possible a pharmaceutical product will be derived from it. Probably the biggest issue with most (at present, all?) pharmaceutical opioids is the side effect of respiratory depression - this kills a lot of people. Because kratom's active alkaloids don't recruit β-arrestin interactions, side effects like respiratory depression, constipation and tolerance are absent or greatly reduced, which should make mitragynine and 7-OH-mitragynine perfect candidates for a new, safe opioid drug[1]. But patents are probably a huge barrier to this ever happening - you can't patent a plant. No new, patentable extraction methods seem to be required, and a patentable, stronger synthetic or semi-synthetic analogue may not exist[2]. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926195/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926195/ [2] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b00360?journalCode=jacsat& http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b00360?journalCode...
- pgt 10y ago
  Thank you, @GordonS! I will go read up about β-arrestin. If it is scheduled, does that increase the chance of a safe(r) opioid replacement being developed? And can you kindly point me to some text books/journals or introductory chemistry in order to understand these interactions at a fundamental level?
  - GordonS 10y ago
    Here are a few DOIs to look up on sci-hub: - 10.1093/bja/aer29 - 10.1007/978-3-642-41199-1_22 - 10.1213/01.ANE.0000160588.32007.AD - 10.1124/mol.106.028258 - 10.1124/jpet.105.087254 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5999-10.2011 I should add that I'm not a chemist, I just have a keen, self-vested interest in analgesic substances.
- mchannon 10y ago
  Actually, you _can_ patent a plant. It's called a plant patent. 35 USC 161 specifically governs plants.
  - GordonS 10y ago
    I'm going to guess this is for patenting strains that are bred or genetically modified? E.g. to provide better disease resistance or higher quantities of substances? I had meant the 'original', 'natural' plant, but a fair point.

by pgt 10y ago

GordonS 10y ago

There is actually a reasonable amount of literature on kratom, so it is possible a pharmaceutical product will be derived from it. Probably the biggest issue with most (at present, all?) pharmaceutical opioids is the side effect of respiratory depression - this kills a lot of people. Because kratom's active alkaloids don't recruit β-arrestin interactions, side effects like respiratory depression, constipation and tolerance are absent or greatly reduced, which should make mitragynine and 7-OH-mitragynine perfect candidates for a new, safe opioid drug[1]. But patents are probably a huge barrier to this ever happening - you can't patent a plant. No new, patentable extraction methods seem to be required, and a patentable, stronger synthetic or semi-synthetic analogue may not exist[2]. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926195/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926195/ [2] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b00360?journalCode=jacsat& http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b00360?journalCode...

pgt 10y ago
Thank you, @GordonS! I will go read up about β-arrestin. If it is scheduled, does that increase the chance of a safe(r) opioid replacement being developed? And can you kindly point me to some text books/journals or introductory chemistry in order to understand these interactions at a fundamental level?
- GordonS 10y ago
  Here are a few DOIs to look up on sci-hub: - 10.1093/bja/aer29 - 10.1007/978-3-642-41199-1_22 - 10.1213/01.ANE.0000160588.32007.AD - 10.1124/mol.106.028258 - 10.1124/jpet.105.087254 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5999-10.2011 I should add that I'm not a chemist, I just have a keen, self-vested interest in analgesic substances.
mchannon 10y ago
Actually, you _can_ patent a plant. It's called a plant patent. 35 USC 161 specifically governs plants.
- GordonS 10y ago
  I'm going to guess this is for patenting strains that are bred or genetically modified? E.g. to provide better disease resistance or higher quantities of substances? I had meant the 'original', 'natural' plant, but a fair point.