The Dermorphin Peptide – A Powerful Agonist at mu-opioid receptor from Frogs

The Dermorphin peptide is a powerful agonist at mu-opioid receptors, meaning that it has potent pain killing effects. In fact this opioid can be up to 40 times more effective than morphine and still have minimal side effects. In the ancient Amazonian tradition, this powerful opioid peptide was used to improve hunting skills and spiritual visions. The Amazonian tribes used “Kambo” or SAPO for their physical skills as hunters in order improve them on an psychic level too; however more research needs to be done before we know whether there are any potential therapeutic applications involving these compounds.

While it may seem like a distant memory, the use of demorphin as an Amazonian compound-seeking remedy is not so long ago. In fact this powerful opioid peptide was first isolated from skin samples taken by South American hylid frogs and has been used for centuries to help with physical skills such as hunting game or healing wounds in tribal rituals.

Dermorphin is a naturally occurring opioid peptide that was first isolated from the skin of South American hylid frogs. Dermorphin is a powerful agonist at mu-opioid receptors, meaning that it has potent painkilling effects. In fact, demorphin is around 30-40 times more potent than morphine.

Dermorphin was traditionally used by Amazonian tribes under the names “Kambo” or “Sapo”, in order to improve their physical and psychic skills as hunters. Nowadays, demorphin is studied for its potential therapeutic applications, due to its strong analgesic effects. However, further research is needed to fully understand the safety and efficacy of this compound.

New Research Shows Demorphin May Be a Valuable Treatment for Localized Peripheral Neuropathic Pain.

Demorphin is an old compound that has been forgotten as an analgesic. However, recent research has shown that it can be quite valuable for the treatment of localized peripheral neuropathic pain, for conditions including painful diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy induced neuropathy, small fiber neuropathy, and chronic idiopathic axonal neuropathy. The clinical effects of demorphin are thought to be due to its ability to block voltage-gated sodium channels, which in turn prevents the propagation of pain signals. This makes demorphin a potentially useful research compound for treating a variety of chronic pain conditions.

The discovery of demorphin, an opioid receptor agonist, in the dermal secrete of a specific Amazon frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagei) by Montecucchi et al was groundbreaking. This heptapeptide possessed “exceptionally intense and long-lasting peripheral and central opiate-like actions.” It was directly recognized by Erspamer and his colleagues that this compound had great potential. They, therefore, named the compound demorphin, derived from the words “derm” and “morphine.” Demorphin has since been studied for its potential therapeutic uses.

Dermorphin is a natural opioid peptide that was first isolated from the skin of the South American frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor, in the early 1970s. It is a highly potent and selective agonist at μ-opioid receptors (MORs), with an affinity (Ki) value of 0.24 nM for the human MOR. Dermorphin is approximately 200 times more potent than morphine in vitro and in vivo. In addition to its high potency, dermorphin also has a number of other unique pharmacological properties. For example, it is relatively resistant to degradation by enzymes such as carboxypeptidase and aminopeptidase, which may contribute to its longer duration of action in vivo.

Dermorphin has been shown to produce analgesia in a variety of animal models of pain with an efficacy similar to that of morphine. In clinical trials, dermorphin has also been shown to be an effective analgesic in humans, and has been used for the treatment of postoperative pain, cancer pain, and chronic non-cancer pain.

Conclusion

Despite its potential therapeutic benefits, dermorphin has not been approved for use in any country. In part, this may be due to the fact that it is considered a research compound, which presents difficulties with regard to formulation, stability, and delivery.