Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32116679›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2019

Desmetramadol Is Identified as a G-Protein Biased µ Opioid Receptor Agonist.

John A Zebala, Aaron D Schuler, Stuart J Kahn, Dean Y Maeda

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Recommended Opioid Receptor Tool Compounds: ComparativeACS pharmacology & translational science · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Sex-specific role for serotonin 5-HTNeuropharmacology · 2022
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

John A ZebalaDepartment of Chemistry and Preclinical Development, Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, United States.
Aaron D SchulerDepartment of Chemistry and Preclinical Development, Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, United States.
Stuart J KahnDepartment of Chemistry and Preclinical Development, Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, United States.
Dean Y MaedaDepartment of Chemistry and Preclinical Development, Syntrix Pharmaceuticals, Auburn, WA, United States.

Funding

Overcoming Tramadol Resistance In CYP2D6 Poor Metabolizers: A Phase 1 Trial Demonstrating Analgesic Superiority of Omnitram to Tramadol in Subjects Coadministered ParoxetineR44DA027304 · NIDA · SYNTRIX BIOSYSTEMS, INC. · PI KAHN, STUART J, ZEBALA, JOHN A · 2012 to 2018
$5.1M
NIDA NIH HHS R44 DA027304
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tramadol is widely used globally and is the second most prescribed opioid in the United States. It treats moderate to severe pain but lethal opioid-induced respiratory depression is uncommon even in large overdose. It is unknown why tramadol spares respiration. Here we show its active metabolite, desmetramadol, is as effective as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl in eliciting G protein coupling at the human µ opioid receptor (MOR), but surprisingly, supratherapeutic concentrations spare human MOR-mediated βarrestin2 recruitment thought to mediate lethal opioid-induced respiratory depression.

Indexed as

biased agonistsCYP2D6fentanylO-desmethyltramadolopioid crisisrespiratory depressiontramadolβarrestin

Identifiers

PMID32116679
PMCPMC7025522
OpenAlexW3003801066

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.