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Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa)

This document discusses kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a tropical tree indigenous to Southeast Asia. Kratom leaves contain compounds like mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine that produce both stimulant effects at low doses and sedative effects at high doses. Traditionally, kratom has been used for pain relief, fatigue, diarrhea, cough and opioid withdrawal in Asia. Recently, kratom use has spread to the US and Europe for self-managing pain and opioid withdrawal. While kratom may have therapeutic properties, concerns exist regarding its safety profile and abuse potential. More research is still needed to better understand kratom's effects and potential medical uses.

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nurul dheas
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100 views3 pages

Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa)

This document discusses kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a tropical tree indigenous to Southeast Asia. Kratom leaves contain compounds like mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine that produce both stimulant effects at low doses and sedative effects at high doses. Traditionally, kratom has been used for pain relief, fatigue, diarrhea, cough and opioid withdrawal in Asia. Recently, kratom use has spread to the US and Europe for self-managing pain and opioid withdrawal. While kratom may have therapeutic properties, concerns exist regarding its safety profile and abuse potential. More research is still needed to better understand kratom's effects and potential medical uses.

Uploaded by

nurul dheas
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa)

By: Nurul Dhea Shalsabilla


1803110136
Chemistry Departement
Universitas Riau

Abstract

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a plant indigenous to Thailand and Southeast Asia.


Kratom leaves produce complex stimulant and opioid-like analgesic effects. In Asia, kratom
has been used to stave off fatigue and to manage pain, diarrhea, cough, and opioid
withdrawal. Recently, kratom has become widely available in the United States and Europe
by means of smoke shops and the Internet. Analyses of the medical literature and select
Internet sites indicate that individuals in the United States are increasingly using kratom for
the self-man- agement of pain and opioid withdrawal. Kratom contains pharmacologically
active constituents, most notably mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Kratom is illegal in
many countries. Although it is still legal in the United States, the US Drug Enforcement
Administration has placed kratom on its “Drugs and Chemicals of Concern” list. Physicians
should be aware of the availability, user habits, and health effects of kratom. Further research
on the therapeutic uses, toxic effects, and abuse potential of kratom and its constituent
compounds are needed.

Introduction

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tropical tree with a long history of traditional use in
parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Kratom is also known as Thom, Thang, and Biak. Its
leaves and the teas brewed from them have long been used by people in that region to
manage pain and opioid withdrawal and to stave off fatigue. Kratom is actually consumed
throughout the world for its stimulant effects and as an opioid substi- tute (in form of tea,
chewed, smoked, or ingested in capsules). Some case reports have associated kratom
exposure with psychosis, seizures, intrahepatic cholestasis, other medical conditions, and
deaths. The clinical manifestations of kratom effects are not well defined and the clinical
studies are limited. Data research suggest that both stimulant and sedative dose-dependent
effects do exist, in addition to antinociceptive, antide- pressant activity, anxiolytic-like
effects, and anorectic effects, but a growing concern for the drug’s effects and safety of use
has resulted in national and international attention primarily due to an increase in hospital

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visits and deaths in several countries that are believed to have been caused by extracts of the
plant. There is a dearth of double blind controlled studies. In this study, we aim to use
existing literature to clarify both benefits and risks of kratom as well as its diagnosis
evaluation as kratom misuse is an emerging trend in the Western world.

Definition of Kratom

Mitragyna speciosa Korth (M.speciosa) from the Rubiaceae family is a tropical plant
and mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are the active compounds of M.speciosa. Both
these alkaloids produce dose-dependent narcotic effects, stimulant effects at lower doses and
sedative-like effects at higher doses. There have been other studies that have reviewed the
properties of kratom in detail. The tree has been known variously as Katawan, Kratawm,
Tawn, in Thailand and as Ketum, Kutum, Bia or Biak in Malaysia. In this paper we will use
the widely used name, Kratom, derived from the Thai names for the tree. This paper provides
a broad survey of the well documented traditional uses of kratom and the less well known,
non-traditional uses of kratom in Thailand and the northern states of peninsula Malaysia
(collectively referred to as South East Asia for convenience) and the US and Europe
(collectively termed Western countries). In doing so, we highlight the major differences in
the use of kratom in these two different regional contexts.

Uses of Kratom

Females normally use kratom for its curative properties in the treatment of mild cases of
fever, diarrhoea and pain. In fact, while male users face no censure or stigma in society,
female kratom addicts are not accepted. There is also an early record of kratom being used in
Malaya as an affordable opium substitute. Tanguay (2012) cites a claim that kratom was also
being used to ease opiate withdrawal in Thailand, as early as in the 1940s. However,
subsequent Thai studies have not reported any evidence of this practice. The first report of the
common use of kratom as a cheap substitute for reducing dependence on other illicit
substances like cannabis, morphine and amphetamine-type- stimulants and also to suppress
opiate withdrawal symptoms was presented by Vicknasingam et al. (2010). They found that
users in the northern Malaysian states were relying on kratom for these purposes because it
was cheap, and easily available and, in the case of those facing opiate withdrawal symptoms,
obviated the need to approach government facilities that might expose their identities.

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Pharmacology of Kratom

As the use of kratom in the West has grown during the past 15 years, there have been
increased efforts to identify and characterize the active pharmacologic agents that mediate the
effects of kratom in the body. Thus far, more than 20 active compounds have been isolated
from kratom, and considerable evidence shows that these com- pounds do, in fact, have major
pharmacologic effects.

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