intoxicant.wiki2catechol4school
Layout
Alkaloid

Pseudo-akuammigine

Also called pseudoakuammigine, ψ-akuammigine

One of the alkaloids in akuamma (Picralima nitida) seeds. There are no human studies of it on its own.

Overview

Pseudo-akuammigine 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. [2]

How it acts

A 1998 study found pseudo-akuammigine showed little or no efficacy in its opioid bioassays. [3]

A 2021 study found it had micromolar activity at the mu opioid receptor. [4]

A 2023 paper describes it as a weak mu opioid receptor agonist that has minimal effects in animal pain tests. [1]

Of the akuamma alkaloids tested in rats, pseudo-akuammigine had the highest plasma protein binding. [2]

Animal studies

Animal and lab results

These are animal or lab results. Animal doses are not human doses.

A 2002 rat study found pseudo-akuammigine reduced paw swelling at 1, 5 and 50 mg/kg by mouth. As a painkiller it was 3.5 times less potent than morphine (ED50 10 μM against 2.9 μM), and naloxone reduced its pain-relieving effect by about 36%. [5]

In mice, 5 mg/kg by mouth gave no pain relief in heat-pain tests; 5 mg/kg injected under the skin gave minimal but statistically significant relief at 30 minutes. The authors say species differences (mice here, rats before) may explain the gap with the earlier rat study. [4]

Lab-made derivatives

Researchers made 22 semi-synthetic derivatives of akuammine and pseudo-akuammigine. Adding a phenethyl group to the N1 of pseudo-akuammigine gave a 70-fold increase in mu opioid receptor potency and more pain relief in mouse tests. This derivative is a lab compound, not something found in the seed. [1]

Dosage

Awaiting sourceNo human dose for Pseudo-akuammigine from a harm reduction site or a journal. Animal doses on this page are not human doses.

References

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Journal / agency Duwiejua M, Woode E, Obiri DD. Pseudo-akuammigine, an alkaloid from Picralima nitida seeds, has anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions in rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2002. doi:10.1016/s0378-8741(02)00058-2 · PMID 12020930 Copyrighted, not open licence: restated in our words, not quoted. Rat study.

Read 31 October 2026. No harm reduction site has a pseudo-akuammigine article.