03/11/2025
Multi-Therapeutic Potential of Mitragyna speciosa (Kratom) Alkaloids
2025 Review Summary
(Begum et al., 2025 — ScienceDirect, DOI S2307410825000252)
✔️ Overview
• 2025 review compiles 150 + studies on chemistry, pharmacology, extraction, and safety of Mitragyna speciosa.
• Focuses on mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine with attention to minor alkaloids and combined bioactivity.
• Purpose — clarify therapeutic promise and research gaps for clinical, regulatory, and industrial advancement.
✔️ Phytochemistry and Extraction
• Mitragynine makes up 40–66 % of total alkaloids; 7-hydroxymitragynine occurs in trace amounts but has far greater μ-opioid potency.
• Over 50 additional alkaloids identified (speciociliatine, paynantheine, mitraphylline, corynantheidine).
• Alkaloid profiles shift with leaf age, origin, drying, solvent, pH, and temperature.
• Authors call for green, scalable extraction methods adaptable to GMP and pharma production.
✔️ Pharmacological Findings
• Mitragynine acts as partial μ-opioid agonist with adrenergic and serotonergic modulation — stimulant at low dose, analgesic at higher dose.
• Recent Preclinical studies show’s Mitragynine did not have respiratory suppression and may increase breathing under certain circumstances.
• 7-Hydroxymitragynine is a potent μ-agonist responsible for most analgesic strength in vivo.
• Documented activities include analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidepressant, neuroprotective, anti-addictive, and antitumour effects.
• Human data remain limited; most evidence is pre-clinical.
• Both alkaloids show G-protein-biased agonism with reduced β-arrestin recruitment, suggesting lower respiratory risk.
✔️ Safety and Toxicology
• Adverse effects include dependence, hepatic and cardiovascular stress.
• Toxicity often linked to poly-alkaloid mixtures or adulterants rather than pure compounds.
• Oxidative conversion of mitragynine → 7-OH demands stability and impurity control. (RnD requires maximum purity for control effects)
• Comprehensive toxicology and dose-controlled clinical trials are required.
✔️ Analytical and Quality Control
• Lack of standardised quantification hampers comparability.
• HPLC-DAD and LC-MS/MS recommended with full ICH Q2(R1) validation.
• Fingerprinting via LC-HRMS supports authenticity and batch consistency.
• Stability testing under ICH Q1A(R2) should track degradation and oxidation.
• Reference materials for major and minor alkaloids are essential for GMP manufacture.
✔️ Research Gaps and Future Work
• Profile roots, stems, flowers, under-studied plant parts.
• Link chemotype to bioactivity and safety via integrated metabolomics and toxicology.
• Design validated human dose-response trials to define therapeutic margin and dependence risk.
• Adopt computational modeling and in-silico ADMET for new analogue screening.
• Develop international reference libraries and SOP alignment for regulators.
✔️ Key Takeaway
Mitragyna speciosa shows diverse alkaloids with promising multi-therapeutic effects.
Translating this potential demands GMP-standardised chemistry, validated analytics, and rigorous clinical evidence before mainstream pharmaceutical use.
Source to 2025 Study Here ⬇️
A review on multi-therapeutic potential of the Mitragyna speciosa (kratom) alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine: Experimental evidence and future perspectives
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2307410825000252