UR-144 (TMCP-018, KM-X1, MN-001, YX-17) is a drug invented by

Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...

, that acts as a selective

full agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the a ...

of the peripheral

cannabinoid receptor Cannabinoid receptors, located throughout the body, are part of the endocannabinoid system a class of cell membrane receptors in the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily. As is typical of G protein-coupled receptors, the cannabinoid recep ...

CB₂, but with much lower affinity for the psychoactive CB₁ receptor.

Pharmacology

UR-144 has high affinity for the CB₂ receptor with a K_i of 1.8 nM but 83x lower affinity for the CB₁ receptor with a K_i of 150 nM. UR-144 was found to possess an EC₅₀ of 421 nM for human CB₁ receptors, and 72 nM for human CB₂ receptors. UR-144 produces

bradycardia Bradycardia (also sinus bradycardia) is a slow resting heart rate, commonly under 60 beats per minute (BPM) as determined by an electrocardiogram. It is considered to be a normal heart rate during sleep, in young and healthy or elderly adults, ...

and hypothermia in rats at a dose of 10 mg/kg, suggesting weak cannabinoid-like activity. Chemically it is closely related to other 2,2,3,3-tetramethylcyclopropyl synthetic cannabinoids like

A-796,260 A-796,260 is a drug developed by Abbott Laboratories that acts as a potent and selective cannabinoid CB2 receptor agonist. Replacing the aromatic 3-benzoyl or 3- naphthoyl group found in most indole derived cannabinoids with the 3- tetramethylcy ...

and

A-834,735 A-834,735 is a drug developed by Abbott Laboratories that acts as a potent cannabinoid receptor full agonist at both the CB1 and CB2 receptors, with a ''K''i of 12 nM at CB1 and 0.21 nM at CB2. Replacing the aromatic 3-benzoyl or 3- ...

but with a different substitution on the 1-position of the indole core, in these compounds its 1-pentyl group is replaced with alkylheterocycles like 1-(2-morpholinoethyl) and 1-(tetrahydropyran-4-ylmethyl).

Legality

The UK ACMD recommended that generic prohibition legislation be extended to include UR-144 in October 2012. The UK Home Office accepted the recommendation and enacted legislation to ban UR-144 as a class B drug along with a number of other drugs on February 26, 2013 as a part o
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2013
UR-144 was detected in Korea, 2012. This molecule is very close to KM-X1, MN-001, YX-17 and Kr-11. UR-144 (Abbott patent) has been detected as an ingredient of synthetic cannabis smoking blends in New Zealand, and subsequently banned from sale as a temporary class drug on 6 April 2012. It has also been encountered in smoking blends and subsequently banned in Russia. As of October 2015 UR-144 is a controlled substance in China. UR-144 is banned in the Czech Republic.

Detection

A forensic standard of UR-144 is available, and the compound has been posted on the Forendex website of potential drugs of abuse.Southern Association of Forensic Scientists http://forendex.southernforensic.org/index.php/detail/index/1218 An ELISA immunoassay technique for detecting UR-144 in urine as part of general drug screens has been developed by Tulip Biolabs, Inc. An Homogeneous Immunoassay that runs on most Clinical Chemistry Analyzers and detects several UR and XLR synthetic cannabinoids has been developed and introduced by Immunalysis Inc. Pomona USA.

Pharmacology

Legality

Detection

See also

References

Further reading