ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2024
Kratom safety and toxicology in the public health context: research needs to better inform regulation.
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Decoding kratom: molecular mechanisms and epigenetic factors in use and dependence.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Simultaneous quantification of seventeen kratom alkaloids and metabolites in human plasma and its application to clinical pharmacokinetic sample analysis.Pharmaceutical biology · 2026Article
- Novel Histopathologic Features of Diffuse Blue-Gray Hyperpigmentation Associated With Kratom Use: A Case Report and Literature Review.Journal of cutaneous pathology · 2026Review
- Association between state-level kratom regulations and poison center-reported severe medical outcomes and healthcare use: A United States national analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Observational
- Kratom Toxicity: Pharmacologic Mechanisms, Clinical Risks, and Management Considerations.Cureus · 2026Review
- Chronic Kratom Use as a Potential Risk Factor for Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source: A Case Report.Cureus · 2026Article
- Observational characterization of self-reported SR-17018 exposure and outcomes in individuals with prior opioid use histories.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- A Review of Kratom Product Evolution and Its Associated Health Outcomes.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2026Review
- Multifaceted modulation of human opioid receptors by kratom alkaloids: binding affinity, functional selectivity, and allosteric activity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Abuse potential assessment of novel central nervous system active and psychedelic substances for controlled substances act scheduling recommendations.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Exploratory evaluation of encapsulated kratom using multimodal quantitative sensory testing in dogs.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the unregulated online kratom market in two east-central European countries: test purchase and analysis of potential toxicological consequences.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- From kratom to 7-hydroxymitragynine: evolution of a natural remedy into a public-health threat.Pharmaceutical biology · 2025Review
- Is bedtime use of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) a sleep aid or disruptor? Examining its daily effects and individual differences.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- An exploratory study of the safety profile and neurocognitive function after single doses of mitragynine in humans.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Article
- Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use for self-management of pain: Insights from cross-sectional and ecological momentary assessment data.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- Time course of kratom effects via ecological momentary assessment, by product type, dose amount, and assayed alkaloid content.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Controversies in Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Kratom Use Disorder.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Kratom in Clinical Practice: What Physicians Need to Know.Missouri medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although kratom use has been part of life for centuries in Southeast Asia, the availability and use of kratom in the United States (US) increased substantially since the early 2000s when there was little information on kratom pharmacology, use patterns, and effects, all critical to guiding regulation and policy. Here we provide a synthesis of research with several hundred English-language papers published in the past 5 years drawing from basic research, epidemiological and surveillance data, and recent clinical research. This review of available literature aims to provide an integrated update regarding our current understanding of kratom's benefits, risks, pharmacology, and epidemiology, which may inform United States-based kratom regulation. Recent surveillance indicates there are likely several million past-year kratom consumers, though estimates vary widely. Even without precise prevalence data, kratom use is no longer a niche, with millions of United States adults using it for myriad reasons. Despite its botanical origins in the coffee tree family and its polypharmacy, kratom is popularly characterized as an opioid with presumed opioid-system-based risks for addiction or overdose. Neuropharmacology, toxicology, and epidemiology studies show that kratom is more accurately characterized as a substance with diverse and complex pharmacology. Taken together the work reviewed here provides a foundation for future scientific studies, as well as a guide for ongoing efforts to regulate kratom. This work also informs much-needed federal oversight, including by the United States Food and Drug Administration. We conclude with recommendations for kratom regulation and research priorities needed to address current policy and knowledge gaps around this increasingly used botanical product.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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 Socratic graph.