Opioid-based plant Kratom not the best solution to curb alcohol use disorder

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Kratom is a botanical product made from Mitragyna speciosa has several active alkaloids and is widely available in smoke shops and online. At low doses, it's a stimulant whereas, at high doses, it has an opioid-like effect. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has listed it as a "drug of concern and lawmakers across the United States continue to debate its safety.

The second most commonly abused substance in the U.S. is alcohol with nearly 15 million people diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder after tobacco. Purdue University researchers studied the effects of kratom and the potential impacts on people with alcohol use disorder and found that kratom may be effective to self-medicate alcohol use disorder but are not entirely safe.The results of the study have been published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

"One big challenge is that alcohol use disorder is not adequately treated with currently available medications; in fact less than 10% of patients receive treatment," said Richard van Rijn, an associate professor in Purdue's College of Pharmacy, who led the research team. "Few broadly effective drug therapies exist to treat alcohol use disorder, so finding new and better treatments is of critical importance to help people manage their disease."

The Purdue scientists, in collaboration with researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Washington University, studied the potential effects of kratom and its components on the body and in the ability to reduce alcohol consumption.

"Our work shows that kratom may be effective to self-medicate alcohol use disorder but is not entirely safe," van Rijn said. "Instead, our research provides additional support for other therapies that would not produce the obvious side effects of using kratom, which may be addictive."

The Purdue team previously focused on a G protein-coupled receptor called the delta-opioid receptor, which is a novel drug target that is different from the receptor in the body that binds prescription opioids. They developed drugs that bind to this new target and selectively activate a particular protein signalling cascade of this receptor.