Mikromol featured product: Apomorphine Hydrochloride Hemihydrate

Featured Product

Apomorphine Hydrochloride Hemihydrate

API

Product Code: MM0562.00 (API)

Introduction

Apomorphine Hydrochloride Hemihydrate (apomorphine) is a morphine decomposition product obtained by boiling the opioid with concentrated acid (the apo- prefix indicates a derivative and the full name means ‘comes from morphine’). The pharmalogical and erectogenic properties of its naturally-occurring analogue aporphine were known to the ancient Egyptians and apomorphine has been used for a variety of medical and veterinary purposes since its first synthesis in 1845. These include efforts to employ it as a cure for alcoholism and opioid addiction, while it is also used as an emetic on dogs who have ingested toxins or foreign bodies. In Parkinson’s disease, it is employed as a fast-acting solution to so-called ‘off’ periods, when the effects of regular medication wear off before the next dose is due. Apomorphine is also prescribed in more advanced Parkinson’s cases, when symptoms no longer respond well to first-line drug treatments. It was first approved as a Parkinson’s treatment by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2004, and marketed under brand names including Apokyn, Kynmobi, and Movapo.

Mechanism of action

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative condition characterised by nerve cells in the brain dying and no longer producing dopamine, which causes problems with movement and other bodily functions. Apomorphine is a type of dopamine D2 agonist, which stimulates nerve cells and helps reduce the symptoms. It is one of a class of organic compounds known as aporphines: quinoline alkaloids containing the dibenzo[de,g]quinoline ring system, or a dehydrogenated derivative thereof. Stimulation of D2 receptors in the caudate-putamen - a region of the brain responsible for locomotor control - may be responsible for apomorphine's action. However, the exact means by which the cellular effects of apomorphine treat hypomobility of Parkinson's remain unknown.

MM0562.05-0025 Impurity, degradation product

Apomorphine o-Quinone (6a,7-Didehydroaporphine-10,11-dione)

MM0562.06-0025 Impurity, degradation product

Apomorphine p-Quinone