Nortilidine is the major
active metabolite An active metabolite is an active form of a drug after it has been processed by the body.
Metabolites of drugs
An active metabolite results when a drug is metabolized by the body into a modified form which continues to produce effects in the body ...
of
tilidine. It is formed from tilidine by
demethylation Demethylation is the chemical process resulting in the removal of a methyl group (CH3) from a molecule. A common way of demethylation is the replacement of a methyl group by a hydrogen atom, resulting in a net loss of one carbon and two hydrogen at ...
in the
liver
The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...
. The racemate has opioid analgesic effects roughly equivalent in potency to that of morphine.
The (1R,2S) isomer has
NMDA antagonist
NMDA receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that work to antagonize, or inhibit the action of, the ''N''-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor ( NMDAR). They are commonly used as anesthetics for animals and humans; the state of anesthesia they induce ...
activity. The drug also acts as a
dopamine reuptake inhibitor
A dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI) is a class of drug which acts as a reuptake inhibitor of the monoamine neurotransmitter dopamine by blocking the action of the dopamine transporter (DAT). Reuptake inhibition is achieved when extracellular dop ...
.
The reversed-ester of nortilidine is also known, as is the corresponding analogue with the cyclohexene ring replaced by cyclopentane, which have almost identical properties to nortilidine.
Use
Nortilidine has been sold as a
designer drug
A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard drug tests. D ...
, first being identified in Poland in May 2020.
See also
*
Desmetramadol
Desmetramadol (), also known as ''O''-desmethyltramadol (''O''-DSMT), is an opioid analgesic and the main active metabolite of tramadol. Tramadol is demethylated by the liver enzyme CYP2D6 in the same way as codeine, and so similarly to the var ...
, another opioid metabolite with additional (non-opioid) mechanisms of analgesia, which has also been sold as a designer drug
*
Tapentadol
Tapentadol, brand names Nucynta among others, is a centrally acting opioid analgesic of the benzenoid class with a dual mode of action as an agonist of the μ-opioid receptor and as a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI). Analgesia occurs wit ...
References
External links
*
Opioids
Dopamine reuptake inhibitors
NMDA receptor antagonists
Cyclohexenes
{{analgesic-stub