Nirvana Life Sciences Researches Kratom-Derived Substance For Opioid Addiction

The Canadian-based psychedelics company Nirvana Life Sciences Inc. filed a patent for the deuterated form of 7-hydroxymitragynine (D7-h.), commonly known as Kratom. Nirvana focuses on developing mental health therapeutics including non-addictive chronic pain and relapse-preventing products.

Recognition and use of Kratom, utilized in Southeast Asia for the past 150 years, has increased in Canada, the U.S. and worldwide in recent years though there is still a lack of research regarding the plant’s various active components.

Kratom is said to produce a stimulant effect when its fresh leaves are chewed and an analgesic and relaxing effect if brewed into a tea. Apparently, people who take kratom do not show the same respiratory decrease that is often the cause of death and overdose in people who take opiates. 

This distinction is explained by the fact that 7-hydroxymitragynine is a partial mu opioid agonist, unlike Fentanyl and oxycodone which are full mu opioid agonists and hold depressant effects on respiration.

As this active compound in kratom produces an opiate-like effect when the plant is ingested, Nirvana expects that working with a D7-h analog can help advance research and create formulations of kratom derivatives to help stem opioid use disorder and the addiction epidemic. 

How Does A Deuterated Drug Work?

Nirvana Life Sciences Inc. has created a deuterated form of D7-h to better understand the mechanisms of this compound in the body, including what pertains to safety, bioavailability, efficacy and pharmacokinetics.

A deuterated drug is a small molecule medicinal product in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms contained in the original drug molecule have been replaced by its heavier stable isotope deuterium, which in turn may provide significantly lower rates of metabolism and therefore a longer half-life. 

This deuterium isotope effect has been increasingly applied over time and is now extensively being researched with a focus on the metabolism, safety, efficacy, tolerability, bioavailability and pharmacokinetics (PK) of drugs.

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