MDA-19 (also known as BZO-HEXOXIZID) is a drug that acts as a potent and selective

agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a Receptor (biochemistry), receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are Cell (biology), cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an R ...

for the cannabinoid receptor CB₂, with reasonable selectivity over the psychoactive CB₁ receptor, though with some variation between species. In animal studies it was effective for the treatment of

neuropathic pain Neuropathic pain is pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Neuropathic pain may be associated with abnormal sensations called dysesthesia or pain from normally non-painful stimuli (allodynia). It may have continuo ...

, but did not affect rat locomotor activity in that specific study. The pharmacology of MDA-19 in rat cannabinoid receptors have been demonstrated to function differently than human cannabinoid receptors with MDA-19 binding to human CB₁ receptors 6.9× higher than rat CB₁ receptors.

Discovery

MDA-19 was first synthesized and studied in the late 2000s by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Pharmacology

MDA-19 binds to human CB₂ receptors at K_i = 43.3 ± 10.3 nM and human CB₁ receptors at K_i = 162.4 ± 7.6 nM and functions as an agonist in human cannabinoid receptors but functions differently in rat cannabinoid receptors binding to rat cannabinoid CB₂ receptors at K_i = 16.3 ± 2.1 and CB₁ receptors at K_i = 1130 ± 574 nM binding to rat CB₁ receptors 6.9× weaker than human CB₁ receptors but increased binding for CB₂. MDA-19 is an agonist at human CB₁ and CB₂ receptors as well as rat CB₁ receptors but functions as an inverse agonist in rat CB₂ receptors.

Society and Culture

MDA-19 along with its shortened Pentyl tailchain analog (MDA-19-Pentyl / 5Carbon-MDA-19/ BZO-POXIZID) and its 5-Fluoro Pentyl analog (5F-MDA-19 /5F-BZO-POXIZID) and its Cyclohexylmethyl analog (CHM-MDA-19 / BZO-CHMOXIZID) was identified in synthetic smoke blends seized in the United States as early as September 2021. United States Border Protection Officers identified BZO-4en-POXIZID (also known as 4en-pentyl-MDA-19) as early as February, 2022 The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education (CFSRE) analyzed 11 samples of suspected synthetic smoke blends between May and September 2022 within the Philadelphia area and found the pentyl analog of MDA-19 in 5 out of 11 samples. Despite their reported lower CB₁ binding affinity, other low CB₁ binding synthetic cannabinoids such as UR-144 (K_i = 150 nM CB₁ and K_i = 1.8 nM CB₂) and XLR-11 (EC₅₀ values of 98 nM CB₁ and 83 nM CB₂) have been previously identified in smoke blends in 2012.

Legality

In the United States, As of October 20, 2024 MDA-19 is legal at the federal level, but may be considered illegal if intended for human consumption under the federal analogue act. North Dakota has placed MDA-19 (along with BZO-CHMOXIZID (CHM-MDA-19), BZO-POXIZID (Pentyl MDA-19), 5F-BZO-POXIZID (5F-MDA-19) and BZO-4en-POXIZID (4en-pentyl MDA-19) into Schedule I on 04/27/23. In China, the May 2021 ban on specific synthetic cannabinoid core classes does not include the class of cannabinoids MDA-19 belongs to.

References

{{Cannabinoids Cannabinoids

Discovery

Pharmacology

Society and Culture

Legality

See also

References