DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Opium, a Friend or Foe

Abstract

Opium has found great use medicinally for its analgesic properties and has been witnessed as one of the most popular medications used in psychiatry. Opium derivatives have been shown as efficacious for relieving pain and the treatment of epileptic seizures, but progressive research toward their use in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases remain elusive. To gain more insight into the other properties of opium such as anti-inflammatory properties, herein we discuss basic information regarding opium, opium content and mechanism of action, pharmacology of opium derivatives, the role of opium in the prevention of neurodegeneration, and adverse effects of opium derivatives on neuronal health.

DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Etonitazene and Related Benzimidazoles

“…In the past 15 years, several structurally diverse synthetic substances with known or purported morphine-like pharmacological properties and not regulated under the international drug control system have emerged on the illicit drug market as new psychoactive substances (NPSs). As of February 2021, a total of 69 opioid NPS have been reported to the European Union Early Warning System on New Psychoactive Substances, operated by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). − On a global level, more than 70 opioid NPS were notified to the Early Warning Advisory of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. , Earlier DARK Classics papers reviewed several opiates and their semisynthetic derivatives, − as well as the synthetic opioids fentanyl, carfentanil, and the recently emerged 1,2-diamine derivative U-47,700 . The most recent family of synthetic opioids to emerge on the drug market are the 2-benzylbenzimidazole derivatives that were invented in the late 1950s.…”