Book Review
Kratom and Other Mitragynines: The Chemistry and Pharmacology of Opioids from a Non-Opium Source
István Ujváry*iKem BT, Budapest, Hungary
- Corresponding Author:
- István Ujváry
iKem BT, Budapest Hungary
Tel: 361 367 0726
E-mail: ujvary@iif.hu
Received date: February 13, 2015; Accepted date: March 24, 2015; Published date: March 29, 2015
Citation: Ujváry I (2015) Kratom and Other Mitragynines: The Chemistry and Pharmacology of Opioids from a Non-Opium Source. J Addict Res Ther 6:214. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000214
Copyright: © 2015 Ujváry I. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The biochemical machinery of plants generates a broad range of chemicals to aid survival in a competitive
environment. For mankind, these natural products have been, from time immemorial, sources of bioactive
substances used not only to heal or provide support in daily work but also to escape from life’s harsh realities. The
isolation of the alkaloid morphine from opium by Sertrner (1805) laid the foundation of phytochemistry and modern
pharmacy. Since then, research on opioids led to the discovery of endogenous opioid peptides and their receptors in
the 1970s.