Has anyone heard of Kratom or tried it?

Kratom compared to MAT
NIH National Library of Medicine
National Center for Biotechnology Information

Mitragynine Attenuates Morphine Withdrawal Effects in Rats-A Comparison With Methadone and Buprenorphine
Rahimah Hassan et al. Front Psychiatry. 2020.

“suggests mitragynine as alternative treatment opiate withdrawal effects as buprenorphine. While mitragynine is equally effective in reducing opiate withdrawal effects in rats, it may be the safer drug with less undesired side-effects.”

NIH and NIDA funded research

“Lyophilized Kratom Tea as a Therapeutic Option for Opioid Dependence

Received 15 June 2020, Revised 13 September 2020, Accepted 15 September 2020, Available online 22 September 2020.

Highlights

Kratom tea dose dependently produces antinociceptive effects.

Kratom tea primarily exerts its actions through the mu opioid receptor.

Kratom tea produced no sedative effects and minimum respiratory depression.

Kratom tea ameliorated opioid withdrawal symptoms both chronically and acutely.

Conclusions
The present study confirms the MOR agonist activity and therapeutic effect of LKT for the treatment of pain and opioid physical dependence.”

NIH and NIDA research.
“Kratom tea study stirs up new support for relieving opioid dependence”

PUBLISHED ON
October 20, 2020

Kratom users have reported similar experiences for years, but the UF study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence is one of the first preclinical investigations to validate these claims.

Christopher McCurdy
Dr. Chris McCurdy
“There have been a lot of anecdotal reports suggesting kratom has some pain-relieving properties and has helped transition users from prescription opioids to this product,” said Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., a professor of medicinal chemistry in the UF College of Pharmacy. “Scientifically, this becomes one of the most important kratom studies released showing support as a potential treatment option for opioid withdrawal syndrome or opioid use disorder

NIH published Yale University. Focus: Plant-based Medicine and Pharmacology: Kratom and Pain Tolerance: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study

Methods:

Kratom effects on pain tolerance were assessed in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. During a 1-day inpatient stay, participants received a randomized sequence of kratom and placebo decoctions matched for taste and appearance. Pain tolerance was measured objectively in a cold pressor task (CPT) as time (seconds) between the pain onset and the hand withdrawal from the ice bath. Health status, vital signs, objective, and subjective indicators of withdrawal symptoms, self-reported data on lifetime kratom use patterns, and assessments of blinding procedures were also evaluated.

Conclusions:

Kratom decoction demonstrated a substantial and statistically significant increase in pain tolerance. Further rigorous research on kratom pain-relieving properties and a safety profile is needed.

Is Kratom an opioid?
Record - National Institutes of Health
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June 24, 2022

IN THIS ISSUE
‘COMPLEX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’
McCurdy Studies Whether Kratom Can Reduce Opioid Withdrawal, Ease Pain

(Kratom)”MG occurs naturally in the plant. It’s considered a partial opioid receptor agonist, though McCurdy said he wouldn’t lump it in the traditional opioid category”

NIH sponsored lecture “Can a Controversial Tree Help End the Opioid Crisis?” Concludes that Kratom is definitely a tool to be kept in the toolbox and utilized. Type the title into a search engine and then filter it by videos. It was on April 25, 2022. The person speaking is Dr. Christopher McCurdy he is the NIH & NIDA leader of the Kratom research team to which they have given over $20 million for research. The conclusion is that Kratom is part of the solution for both pain patient and or addict.

But the FDA says it can be deadly. Let’s examine 44 deaths the FDA claims were from kratom close up. One was actually a homicide with GUNSHOT wound to the chest. I understand with something of controversy, I have to be willing to accept differing opinions. But can’t we certainly all agree that it was the gunshot wound that caused the death. 9 were in Sweden where the ALL had a toxic level of tramadol. Can’t we at least agree that it probably was not the kratom there either. Several more where the person had no less than nine substances including illicit ones. So we do some digging and not accept media hype spin!

“The FDA has gone well beyond any credible scientific analysis in the documents they’ve produced.”
Dr Jane Babin, PhD, Esquire
To see the full analysis of each FDA claim Tomas a Kratom death type the title into the search engine.

“Mitragynine, or other kratom alkaloids, may have that perfect combination of activity as a partial agonist of mu-opioid and α-adrenergic receptors.”

Expert: Jay McLaughlin (Ph.D.) is an associate professor of pharmacodynamics at the University of Florida. His research aims to identify the neurobiological systems underlying behaviour, characterizing them, and related psychological disorders to develop new therapeutic interventions utilizing molecular, pharmacological, anatomical, and behavioural methods. His projects encompass both basic science and drug discovery elements.

Jay McLaughlin
I have a doctorate in neuroscience, and I am a behavioural scientist and pharmacologist. I’m interested in investigating both the basic mechanisms that mediate behaviour and treatments that try to help disorders of behaviour. I’ve done research on drug abuse for some time, and one of the questions that we’ve been interested in is trying to find better treatments for opioid dependence and opioid addiction.

NIDA Dir Dr Nora Volkows Blog doesn’t subscribe to the FDA’s finding. AND NIDA looks at kratom as part of the solution not problem.

“Research published in June in ACS Central Science provided new insights while raising new questions about the drug kratom. Its active ingredient mitragynine acts as a weak partial agonist at the mu-opioid receptor (MOR), but new findings by a team that included researchers at Columbia and Memorial Sloan-Kettering found that the drug’s analgesic properties are significantly mediated by a metabolite produced when mitragynine is consumed orally, called 7-hydroxymitragynine. In mice, at least, this compound seems to provide analgesia but with fewer respiratory-depressing and reward-associated side effects than other opioids such as morphine. These findings point toward the potential of this drug in pain research as well as the need for further research on the pharmacology of kratom’s constituents, their toxicity and potential value in the treatment of OUD.”

2021 NIDA DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Nora D. Volkow, M.D. Dir National Institute Drug Abuse

“initial findings indicate mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are not rewarding in ICSS procedure. present results suggest kratom alkaloids do not have abuse potential.”