Norpropoxyphene is a major metabolite of the

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 use ...

analgesic drug

dextropropoxyphene Dextropropoxyphene is an analgesic in the opioid category, patented in 1955 and manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company. It is an optical isomer of levopropoxyphene. It is intended to treat mild pain and also has antitussive (cough suppressant) ...

, and is responsible for many of the side effects associated with use of this drug, especially the unusual toxicity seen during dextropropoxyphene

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

. It has weaker analgesic effects than dextropropoxyphene itself, but is a relatively potent pro-

convulsant A convulsant is a drug which induces convulsions and/or epileptic seizures, the opposite of an anticonvulsant. These drugs generally act as stimulants at low doses, but are not used for this purpose due to the risk of convulsions and consequent e ...

and blocker of

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosph ...

channels Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

, particularly in heart tissue, which produces prolonged intracardiac conduction time and can lead to heart failure following even relatively minor overdoses. The toxicity of this metabolite makes dextropropoxyphene up to 10 times more likely to cause death following overdose compared to other similar mild opioid analgesics, and has led to dextropropoxyphene being withdrawn from the market in some countries. Because norpropoxyphene has a long half-life in the body of up to 36 hours (compared to around 6–12 hours for dextropropoxyphene), it can accumulate in tissues during chronic use of dextropropoxyphene-containing medications, especially in people whose excretion of drugs is slower than normal such as young children, the elderly, and individuals with reduced kidney or liver function, and so side effects including serious adverse events are more common in these groups and use of dextropropoxyphene should be avoided where possible.

References

{{Ion channel modulators Synthetic opioids Opioid metabolites Propionate esters Amines Potassium channel blockers Sodium channel blockers