Akuammine
One of the alkaloids in akuamma (Picralima nitida) seeds. There are no human studies of it on its own.
Overview
Akuammine is an indole alkaloid found in the seeds of the akuamma tree (Picralima nitida). [1]
It is one of at least five major alkaloids in the seed, with akuammicine, akuammiline, picraline and pseudo-akuammigine. [2]
How it acts
A 1998 study found akuammine bound best to mu opioid sites (Ki 0.5 μM) but acted as an antagonist at mu opioid receptors (pKB 5.7 against DAMGO). [3]
A 2021 study found akuammine acted as a mu opioid receptor agonist in a cAMP test (IC50 2.6 μM). At the kappa opioid receptor it did not inhibit cAMP, which the authors say suggests antagonist or inverse agonist properties there. [4]
A 2023 paper describes akuammine as a weak mu opioid receptor agonist that has minimal effects in animal pain tests. [1]
Animal studies
Animal and lab results
These are animal or lab results. Animal doses are not human doses.
Injected under the skin in mice at 3 to 60 mg/kg, akuammine gave minimal but statistically significant pain relief at some time points, with no dose-dependent increase seen reproducibly. By mouth, no pain relief was measurable. [4]
In rats given ground akuamma seed by mouth, akuammine was the only alkaloid with significant levels in the blood, with low oral bioavailability. Its half-life in rat liver microsomes was 13.5 minutes. [2]
Dosage
References
- Journal / agency Hennessy MR, Gutridge AM, French AR, Rhoda ES, Meqbil YJ, Gill M, Kashyap Y, Appourchaux K, Paul B, Wang ZJ, van Rijn RM, Riley AP. Modified Akuamma Alkaloids with Increased Potency at the Mu-opioid Receptor. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2023. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01707 · PMID 36827198 Copyrighted, not open licence: restated in our words, not quoted. Lab and mouse studies.
- Journal / agency Gour A, Creed SM, Riley AP, Sharma A. Comprehensive pharmacokinetics and ADME evaluation of Akuamma alkaloids. Journal of Chromatography B. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2025.124713 · PMID 40582228 Copyrighted, not open licence: restated in our words, not quoted. Rat and cell studies.
- Journal / agency Menzies JR, Paterson SJ, Duwiejua M, Corbett AD. Opioid activity of alkaloids extracted from Picralima nitida (fam. Apocynaceae). European Journal of Pharmacology. 1998. doi:10.1016/s0014-2999(98)00232-5 · PMID 9683021 Copyrighted, not open licence: restated in our words, not quoted. Lab (isolated tissue and binding) study.
- Journal / agency Creed SM, Gutridge AM, Argade MD, Hennessy MR, Friesen JB, Pauli GF, van Rijn RM, Riley AP. Isolation and Pharmacological Characterization of Six Opioidergic Picralima nitida Alkaloids. Journal of Natural Products. 2021. doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01036 · PMID 33326237 Copyrighted, not open licence: restated in our words, not quoted. Lab and mouse studies.
Read 31 October 2026. No harm reduction site has an akuammine article; PsychonautWiki only names it as an akuamma alkaloid.