Naltrindole
Naltrindole is a highly potent, highly selective delta opioid receptor antagonist used in biomedical research.
Drug Design
Drug Design
Since peptide compounds are unable to cross the blood brain barrier, researchers developed naltrindole to be a non-peptide antagonist analog of the delta-preferring endogenous opiate enkephalin. Enkephalin contains an aromatic phenyl group on its Phe4 residue, which was hypothesized to be the “address” sequence responsible for the opiate’s delta opioid receptor affinity[1]. Thus, attachment of a phenyl-containing indole molecule to the C-ring of naltrexone‘s morphinan base successfully produced a drug with the high receptor affinity of naltrexone, but which binds almost exclusively to the delta opioid receptor[2].
References
References
- ↑ Lipkowski AW, Tam SW, Portoghese PS. “Peptides as receptor selectivity modulators of opiate pharmacophores.” Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 1986 Jul;29(7):1222-5. PMID 2879914
- ↑ Portoghese PS, Sultana M, Takemori AE. “Naltrindole, a highly selective and potent non-peptide delta opioid receptor antagonist.” European Journal of Pharmacology. 1988 Jan 27;146(1):185-6. PMID 2832195
Looking for the patient version?
© 2026 MyEClinic – IFTM Institut für Telematik in der Medizin GmbH