Natural source of analgesic Tramadol found

An African medicinal plant - Nauclea latifolia (also known as the pin cushion tree) - has been found to produce large quantities of molecules with analgesic properties. Even more surprising, analysis shows that the molecule is identical to the heretofor wholly synthetic painkiller Tramadol.

Michel De Waard, Inserm research director at the Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences  (Inserm, University Joseph Fourier, CNRS), led the research team that found, for the first time ever, strong concentrations in a natural source of a synthetic medication produced by the pharmaceutical industry. This unexpected discovery had just been published in the chemical journal Angewandte Chemie.

The pin cushion tree is a small shrub that is widely abundant throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. In traditional medicine, in particular in Cameroon, this plant is used to treat different pathologies including epilepsy, fevers, malaria and pain.

The researchers were able to isolate and determine the properties of the component in the plant that was responsible for the presumed analgesic effects, by analysing part of the root bark. And to everyone’s surprise, they found that this component was already commercially available under the name Tramadol. This medication is used worldwide, because although it is a derivative of morphine, it has fewer side effects than morphine - in particular, addiction problems.

Tramadol is, in fact, a simplified form of morphine that has conserved the elements needed to produce analgesic effects.

In order to confirm their results, the researchers tested different processes with the aim of proving that the substance discovered was of natural origin. Their analyses were confirmed by three independent laboratories that had received different samples at different times of the year.

Finally, in order to exclude the possibility of accidental contamination of the samples by synthetic Tramadol, the researchers took samples from inside the roots themselves and thus confirmed the presence of the molecule.

From a quantitative point of view, the concentration of Tramadol in the dried bark extracts was measured at 0.4% and 3.9%. These are extremely high levels of active substance.

In addition to the unprecedented aspect of this discovery (the first ever potentially exploitable case where a hitherto synthetically produced medication has been discovered in a natural form and in high quantities), this major result opens up prospects for local populations, giving them access to a source of cheap treatment and validating the concepts of traditional medicines (as decoctions made from barks and roots).

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