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Trade names | Wildnil |
Other names | (4-Methoxycarbonyl)fentanyl, R-33799 |
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Elimination half-life | 7.7 hours |
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ECHA InfoCard | 100.352.183 |
Chemical and physical data | |
Formula | C24H30N2O3 |
Molar mass | 394.515 g·mol−1 |
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Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. [1] It is an analogue of fentanyl, of which it is structurally derivative. It is typically administered in this context by tranquilizer dart. [1] Carfentanil has also been used in humans to image opioid receptors. [1] It has additionally been used as a recreational drug, typically by injection, insufflation, or inhalation. [1] Deaths have been reported in association with carfentanil. [1] [2]
Effects and side effects of carfentanil in humans are similar to those of other opioids and include euphoria, relaxation, pain relief, pupil constriction, drowsiness, sedation, slowed heart rate, low blood pressure, lowered body temperature, loss of consciousness, and suppression of breathing. [1] The effects of carfentanil, including overdose, can be reversed by the opioid antagonists naloxone and naltrexone, though higher doses than usual may be necessary compared to other opioids. [1] [2] [3] : 23 Carfentanil is a structural analogue of the synthetic opioid analgesic fentanyl. [4] It acts as an ultrapotent and highly selective agonist of the μ-opioid receptor. [1]
Carfentanil was first synthesized in 1974 by a team of chemists at Janssen Pharmaceuticals which included Paul Janssen. [5] It was introduced into veterinary medicine in 1986. [1] Carfentanil is legally controlled in most jurisdictions. [2]
Chosen for its high therapeutic index, carfentanil was first sold in 1986 under the brand name "Wildnil" for use in combination with an α2-receptor agonist as a tranquilizing agent [3] : 9 for large mammals like hippos, rhinos, and elephants. [5] [6] Commercial production of Wildnil ceased in 2003; the drug is now available only in compounded form. [7] Since then, etorphine has become the standard tranquilizing agent for large mammals, with diprenorphine as the preferred reversal agent. Diprenorphine was also used previously to reverse the effects of carfentanil. [8]
Carfentanil has been used at doses of less than 7 μg as a radiotracer for positron emission tomography imaging of the μ-opioid receptor in the brain in humans. [1]
Carfentanil acts as a highly selective agonist of the μ-opioid receptor. [9] It showed affinity values (Ki) of 0.051 nM for the μ-opioid receptor, 4.7 nM for the δ-opioid receptor, and 13 nM for the κ-opioid receptor in rat brain. [9] Thus, carfentanil displayed 90- and 250-fold selectivity for the μ-opioid receptor over the δ-opioid receptor and the κ-opioid receptor, respectively. [9] With human proteins, the affinities were 0.024 nM for the μ-opioid receptor, 3.3 nM for the δ-opioid receptor, and 43 nM for the κ-opioid receptor, demonstrating 140- and 1,800-fold selectivity for the μ-opioid receptor over the δ- and κ-opioid receptors, respectively. [10] Carfentanil appears to have higher affinity for the μ1-opioid receptor over the μ2-opioid receptor. [1] Carfentanil has approximately 10,000 times the analgesic potency of morphine, 4,000 times the potency of heroin, and 20 to 100 times the potency of fentanyl in animal studies. [10] [1] [2] The effects of carfentanil are reversed by μ-opioid receptor antagonists like naloxone and naltrexone, though higher than normal doses of these agents may be necessary in humans due to the extremely high potency of carfentanil. [1] [2]
A lipophilic chemical that can easily cross the blood–brain barrier, carfentanil has a very rapid onset of action and is longer acting than fentanyl. [3] : 9 Its elimination half-life in humans was 42 to 51 minutes following an intravenous bolus at an average dose of 1.34 μg (19 ng/kg). [1] [2] However, in a case study of recreational exposure, the half-lives of carfentanil and its metabolite norcarfentanil were estimated to be 5.7 hours and 11.8 hours, respectively. [1] [11]
Carfentanil is an analogue of fentanyl and is also known as (4‑methoxycarbonyl)fentanyl. Related analogues of fentanyl include 4 ‑ phenylfentanyl, lofentanil (3‑methylcarfentanyl), N-methylnorcarfentanil, R-30490 (4‑methoxymethylfentanyl), sufentanil, and thiafentanil.
Over three hundred cases of overdose related to fentanyl and cafentanyl analogues were reported between August and November 2016 in several of the United States, including Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Florida. [15] In 2017, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin man died from a Carfentanil overdose, likely taken unknowingly with another illegal drug such as heroin or cocaine. [16] Carfentanil is most often taken with heroin or by users who believe they are taking heroin. Carfentanil is added to or sold as heroin because it is less expensive, easier to obtain, and easier to manufacture than heroin. [17]
Authorities in Latvia and Lithuania reported seizing Carfentanil as an illicit drug in the early 2000s. [17] [18]
Around 2016, the United States and Canada reported a dramatic increase in shipment of carfentanil and other strong opioid drugs to customers in North America from Chinese chemical supply firms. In June 2016, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized one kilogram of carfentanil shipped from China in a box labeled "printer accessories". According to the Canada Border Services Agency, the shipment contained 50 million potentially lethal doses of the drug, in containers labeled as toner cartridges for HP LaserJet printers. [17]
Carfentanil was not a controlled substance in China until 1 March 2017, [19] and until then was manufactured legally and sold openly over the Internet, being actively marketed by several Chinese chemical companies. [17]
In 2012, a team of researchers at the British chemical and biological defence laboratories at Porton Down found carfentanil and remifentanil in clothing from two British survivors of the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis and in the urine from a third survivor. The team concluded that the Russian military had used an aerosol mist of carfentanil and remifentanil to subdue Chechen hostage takers. [20] Researchers had previously surmised from the available evidence that the Moscow emergency services had not been informed of the use of the agent, despite being instructed to bring opioid antagonists to the scene. Unaware that hundreds of patients had been exposed to high doses of strong opioids, the emergency workers failed to bring sufficient quantities of naloxone and naltrexone to counteract the effects of carfentanil and remifentanil. One hundred and twenty-five people exposed to the aerosol are confirmed to have died from respiratory failure during the incident. [21]
The toxicity of carfentanil in humans and its ready commercial availability has raised concerns over its potential use as a chemical weapon of mass destruction by rogue nations and terrorist groups. The toxicity of carfentanil has been compared to that of nerve gas. [17]
Carfentanil has been controlled in China since 1 March 2017. [3] : 21 The trade war between China and the United States has included controversy over the effectiveness of this control. [22] [23] [24]
Carfentanil and its stereoisomers and salts are controlled by the Betäubungsmittelgesetz as a Anlage I substance and can only be used with the special permission of the authorities.
Carfentanil is classified as Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States with a DEA ACSCN of 9743 and a 2016 annual aggregate manufacturing quota of 19 grams (less than 0.7 oz.). [25] Carfentanil has been manufactured under the brand-name Wildnil by Wildlife Laboratories Inc. [26] Wildlife Laboratories Inc. is also the manufacturer of diprenorphine and etorphine for veterinary use.
Carfentanil has been specifically controlled as a Class A drug since 1986. [27]
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine; its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery, fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating μ-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is sold under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze, among others.
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist: a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. For example, it is used to restore breathing after an opioid overdose. It is also known as Narcan. Effects begin within two minutes when given intravenously, five minutes when injected into a muscle, and ten minutes as a nasal spray. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids for 30 to 90 minutes.
Buprenorphine, sold under the brand name Subutex among others, is an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder, acute pain, and chronic pain. It can be used under the tongue (sublingual), in the cheek (buccal), by injection, as a skin patch (transdermal), or as an implant. For opioid use disorder, the patient must have moderate opioid withdrawal symptoms before buprenorphine can be administered under direct observation of a health-care provider.
Remifentanil, marketed under the brand name Ultiva is a potent, short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug. It is given to patients during surgery to relieve pain and as an adjunct to an anaesthetic. Remifentanil is used for sedation as well as combined with other medications for use in general anesthesia. The use of remifentanil has made possible the use of high-dose opioid and low-dose hypnotic anesthesia, due to synergism between remifentanil and various hypnotic drugs and volatile anesthetics.
Gray death is a slang term which refers to potent mixtures of synthetic opioids, for example benzimidazole opioids or fentanyl analogues, which were often sold on the street misleadingly as "heroin". However, other substances such as cocaine have also been laced with opioids that resulted in illness and death.
Kolokol-1 is a synthetic opioid developed for use as an aerosolizable incapacitating agent. The exact chemical structure has not yet been revealed by the Russian government. It was originally thought by some sources to be a derivative of the potent opioid fentanyl, most probably 3-methylfentanyl dissolved in an inhalational anaesthetic as an organic solvent. However, independent analysis of residues on the Moscow theater hostage crisis hostages' clothing or in one hostage's urine found no fentanyl or 3-methylfentanyl. Two much more potent and shorter-acting agents, carfentanil and remifentanil, were found in the samples. They concluded that the agent used in the Moscow theater hostage crisis contained two fentanyl derivatives much stronger than fentanyl itself, sprayed in an aerosol mist.
Etorphine (M99) is a semi-synthetic opioid possessing an analgesic potency approximately 1,000–3,000 times that of morphine. It was first prepared in 1960 from oripavine, which does not generally occur in opium poppy extract but rather the related plants Papaver orientale and Papaver bracteatum. It was reproduced in 1963 by a research group at MacFarlan Smith in Gorgie, Edinburgh, led by Kenneth Bentley. It can be produced from thebaine.
An opioid antagonist, or opioid receptor antagonist, is a receptor antagonist that acts on one or more of the opioid receptors.
Diprenorphine, also known as diprenorfin, is a non-selective, high-affinity, weak partial agonist of the μ- (MOR), κ- (KOR), and δ-opioid receptor (DOR) which is used in veterinary medicine as an opioid antagonist. It is used to reverse the effects of super-potent opioid analgesics such as etorphine and carfentanil that are used for tranquilizing large animals. The drug is not approved for use in humans.
The chemical agent used in the Moscow theatre hostage crisis of 26 October 2002 has never been definitively revealed by the Russian authorities, though many possible identities have been speculated. An undisclosed incapacitating agent was used by the Russian authorities in order to subdue the Chechen terrorists who had taken control of a crowded theater.
Nalorphine is a mixed opioid agonist–antagonist with opioid antagonist and analgesic properties. It was introduced in 1954 and was used as an antidote to reverse opioid overdose and in a challenge test to determine opioid dependence.
Lofentanil or lofentanyl is one of the most potent opioid analgesics known and is an analogue of fentanyl, which was developed in 1960. It is most similar to the highly potent opioid carfentanil (4-carbomethoxyfentanyl), only slightly more potent. Lofentanil can be described as 3-methylcarfentanil, or 3-methyl-4-carbomethoxyfentanyl. While 3-methylfentanyl is considerably more potent than fentanyl itself, lofentanil is only slightly stronger than carfentanil. This suggests that substitution at both the 3 and 4 positions of the piperidine ring introduces steric hindrance which prevents μ-opioid affinity from increasing much further. As with other 3-substituted fentanyl derivatives such as ohmefentanyl, the stereoisomerism of lofentanil is very important, with some stereoisomers being much more potent than others.
Ocfentanil is a potent synthetic opioid structurally related to fentanyl that was developed in the early 1990s as one of a series of potent naloxone-reversible opioids in an attempt to obtain an opioid that had better therapeutic indices in terms of cardiovascular effects and respiratory depression as compared to fentanyl. Ocfentanil was never developed for medical use despite reasonable results in human clinical trials, but subsequently started to be sold as a designer drug starting in around 2013.
R-30490 is an opioid analgesic related to the highly potent animal tranquilizer carfentanil, and with only slightly lower potency. It was first synthesised by a team of chemists at Janssen Pharmaceutica led by Paul Janssen, who were investigating the structure-activity relationships of the fentanyl family of drugs. R-30490 was found to be the most selective agonist for the μ-opioid receptor out of all the fentanyl analogues tested, but it has never been introduced for medical use in humans, although the closely related drug sufentanil is widely used for analgesia and anesthesia during major surgery.
Butyrfentanyl or butyrylfentanyl is a potent short-acting synthetic opioid analgesic drug. It is an analog of fentanyl with around one quarter of its potency. One of the first mentions of this drug can be found in document written by The College on Problem of Drug Dependence, where it is mentioned as N-butyramide fentanyl analog. This document also states that the article describing its clinical effects was published in 1987. It is an agonist for the μ-opioid receptors.
Acetylfentanyl is an opioid analgesic drug that is an analog of fentanyl. Studies have estimated acetylfentanyl to be 15 times more potent than morphine, which would mean that despite being somewhat weaker than fentanyl, it is nevertheless still several times stronger than pure heroin. It has never been licensed for medical use and instead has only been sold on the illicit drug market. Acetylfentanyl was discovered at the same time as fentanyl itself and had only rarely been encountered on the illicit market in the late 1980s. However, in 2013, Canadian police seized 3 kilograms of acetylfentanyl. As a μ-opioid receptor agonist, acetylfentanyl may serve as a direct substitute for oxycodone, heroin or other opioids. Common side effects of fentanyl analogs are similar to those of fentanyl itself, which include itching, nausea, and potentially fatal respiratory depression. Fentanyl analogs have killed hundreds of people throughout Europe and the former Soviet republics since the most recent resurgence in use began in Estonia in the early 2000s, and novel derivatives continue to appear.
Thiafentanil is a highly potent opioid analgesic that is an analog of fentanyl, and was invented in 1986. Its analgesic potency is slightly less than that of carfentanil, though with a faster onset of effects, shorter duration of action and a slightly lesser tendency to produce respiratory depression. It is used in veterinary medicine to anesthetise animals such as impala, usually in combination with other anesthetics such as ketamine, xylazine or medetomidine to reduce the prevalence of side effects such as muscle rigidity.
Methocinnamox (MCAM) is an opioid receptor antagonist. It is a pseudo-irreversible non-competitive antagonist of the μ-opioid receptor and a competitive antagonist of the κ- and δ-opioid receptors. The drug has a very long duration of action of up to months with a single dose due to its pseudo-irreversibility. It is administered in animals by intravenous or subcutaneous injection.
The lethal dose range for carfentanil in humans is unknown