A picture is worth a thousand words.
This one shows that the analgesia on the receptor sites of the lab mouse's brain are not activated by Mitragynine directly, but by liver's CYP3A enzymatically mediated conversion of Mitragynine into 7-HydroxyMitragynine, an active metabolite that is 50 times more potent.🐭
Now for those 1000 words that I spoke of: Grab a cup of the favorite tea of your choice 🍮☕🍲🍯 ...and cuddle up with your lab mouse to this amazingly enlightening, yet so unnessesarily complex article right here:
📥 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
Don't fret if it became too confusing with all of the sciencey mumbo~jumbo. Just skip over the terminological inexactitudes and indeterminate specificities, 'cuz there be more gooder stuff 'tween them thar maths.
Short abstract:
Mitragynine is the major active alkaloid of Mitragyna speciosa (kratom). This compound is converted by the liver into a potent active metabolite, 7-hydroxyMitragynine, which mediates its analgesic effect via the mu-opioid receptor. 😀😆😂🤯
~~<Translation so that Petey's ever shrinking brain can comprehend>~~
Natural kratom leaf, by weight, has 1~2% moderately potent Mitragynine, and a tiny fraction of 1% of VERY potent 7-HydroxyMitragynine (or 7-OHM for short). The natural level of VERY potent 7-OHM, that exists in the leaf, is insufficient to cause the observed levels of analgesia (pain relief) that were encountered.
🍂In the leaf, Mitragynine is more abundant but not very powerful, however the research theorizes that enzyme CYP3A metabolizes the weaker Mitragynine into potent 7-OHM, after it's first pass through the liver. This increases the available levels of potent 7-OHM and explains the high level of analgesia (pain relief) observed in the lab mouse. 🐁
Perhaps growers and enthusiasts alike should be more concerned with good levels of Mitragynine that naturally occur, and let our liver do the hard work of synthesizing 7-OHM. 🤔
Now aren't you glad that you read the article instead.
Cheers! 🍻
(not sorry for the emoticons) 😇
ps. I wish I was a lab mouse. 🐀