W-18 is a compound in a series of 32 substances (named W-1 to W-32) that were first synthesized in academic research on

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

drug discovery In the fields of medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered. Historically, drugs were discovered by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by ...

in the 1980s and appeared as a designer drug in the 2010s. W-18 was invented at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

by a lab working on

in the 1980s, and preliminary studies in animals showed it had pain-killing activity in mice. The chemical was detected in connection with recreational drug use as substitute for other controlled substances in Europe in 2013, and in the United States. In Canada,

Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) is an umbrella government agency uniting efforts by multiple Canadian law enforcement organizations. Known by the acronym ALERT, the agency was established in 2006. Its campaigns on behalf of the peopl ...

(ALERT) seized four kilograms of W-18 in a drug bust in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

in December 2015 and W-18 was also detected by

Health Canada Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...

in at least three of 110

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

tablets seized from a

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

home in August 2015. W-18 was commonly reported to be an

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...

in the popular press in the 2010s, which was later revealed not to be correct. W-18 was found to obtain weak activity at both sigma receptors and the

translocator protein Translocator protein (TSPO) is an 18 kDa protein mainly found on the outer mitochondrial membrane. It was first described as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), a secondary binding site for diazepam, but subsequent research has found the re ...

(peripheral benzodiazepine receptor). It also inhibits the

hERG hERG (the human '' Ether-à-go-go''-Related Gene) is a gene () that codes for a protein known as Kv11.1, the alpha subunit of a potassium ion channel. This ion channel (sometimes simply denoted as 'hERG') is best known for its contribution to th ...

potassium channel with micromolar affinity, which could potentially cause cardiac arrhythmia at high doses. * In Sweden, W-18 was made illegal in January 2016. * In Canada, W-18 and its analogues were made Schedule I controlled substances. Possession without legal authority can result in maximum 7 years imprisonment. Further,

amended the ''Food and Drug Regulations'' in May, 2016 to classify W-18 as a restricted drug. Only those with a law enforcement agency, person with an exemption permit or institutions with Minister's authorization may possess the drug.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:W-18 Chloroarenes Nitrobenzenes Piperidines Sigma receptor ligands Sulfonamides TSPO ligands

See also

References