A toxicological exploration of the opioid crisis

Abstract

With the discovery of opium dating back to Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian civilizations, there is a rich history stemming from the early use of the poppy plant to the new synthetic opioids that are emerging in drug seizures today. The phrase "opioid crisis" has been used to describe a public health emergency that has developed due to a combination of the over-prescription of opioid medication, increase in heroin use, and clandestine synthesis of

DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Bucinnazine

“…Several ELISA screening kits are available for the detection of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl that give adequate cross reactivity with its analogues. However, bucinnazine does not share structural similarity with fentanyl, preventing these kits from working as efficiently as needed for the detection of synthetic opioids with different structural moieties . Although immunoassays for detecting non-fentanyl analogues were recently developed, the difficult process for their development and the fast increase in the number and variety of new synthetic opioids remain a challenge .…”

“…Nefarious enterprise groups took advantage of this published knowledge to make these synthetic opioids and introduce them into the illicit market. Most synthetic opioids were originally discovered as part of the efforts undertaken to find an analgesic drug that was as potent as morphine but less addictive. , …”

“…Synthetic opioids can bind to the μ-opioid receptors, the κ-opioid receptors, and the δ-opioid receptors in the brain. Bucinnazine is considered a μ-selective opioid, meaning that it primarily binds to the μ-opioid receptor . However, bucinnazine also may share several characteristics with other piperazines, which act primarily on dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine neurotransmission …”

“…The original purpose for the creation of synthetic opioids was to find a safer and more effective version of morphine. However, this has backfired and has instead created opportunities for illicit drug manufacturers and underground chemists to synthesize modified products that avoid legal restrictions and increase their profits . Bucinnazine is not a drug of choice in the U.S for the treatment of pain; thus it is not scheduled.…”

“…Most synthetic opioids were originally discovered as part of the efforts undertaken to find an analgesic drug that was as potent as morphine but less addictive. 8,9 Many synthetic opioids are substances structurally related to fentanyl (Figure 1). Nevertheless, new substances that share neither the fentanyl nor the classical morphinan chemical structures are available in the illicit market.…”