Does salvinorin A activate a different set of opiate receptors than addictive opiate drugs such as morphine?
. There are very significant differences in which opioid receptors are activated by morphine compared with salvinorin A, these differences result in morphine, but NOT salvinorin A, being addictive. To be more specific, morphine activates both mu and kappa opioid receptors. It activates mu receptors strongly, these are the receptors responsible for opiate dependence. It activates kappa receptors, but only weakly. Thus morphine is powerfully addictive but produces only borderline visionary effects (morphine induced visions, when they occur at all, are similar to daydreams). In contrast salvinorin A is a powerful SELECTIVE kappa agonist. It strongly activates the vision-inducing kappa receptors but does NOT activate the addiction producing mu receptors. So, unlike opiate drugs such as morphine, salvinorin produces remarkably powerful visions, but not addiction.
Related Questions
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- Since salvinorin A activates kappa opiate receptors, does that mean that salvinorin A is chemically similar to opiate drugs?
- Does salvinorin A activate a different set of opiate receptors than addictive opiate drugs such as morphine?
