Preliminary Characterization of Commercial Kratom Extract Products

Kratom products, made from the botanical Mitragyna speciosa, have proliferated in the United States since 2006 and now include a variety of brands and formulations. Kratom whole-leaf products and kratom leaf-derived extract products are the two major types of products within the marketplace. To date, most studies have examined kratom whole-leaf products, both in terms of self-report from consumers and in terms of two US-based, small lab-based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) studies. In order to follow-up on the investigators' prior work examining the acute effects of kratom in adults (age 21 or older) who regularly use whole-leaf kratom products, the investigators propose a pilot study (N=16) that purposefully samples US adults who use popular kratom extract products sold legally in most of US, including the state of Maryland. Despite the widespread use of kratom extract products, particularly among the best-selling brands, the investigators have no independently collected and published data derived from human laboratory studies on the PK/PD associated with these products. The investigators will conduct a within-person, single-dose pilot study wherein 16 adult consumers of kratom extract products will self-administer a single oral dose of the participant's kratom extract. As this is an exploratory pilot study, the investigators are not making a priori hypothesis. Rather, this is a proof-of-concept pilot study needed to first measure the basic PK and PD (physiological, subjective, cognitive) responses to extract product servings taken by adults who consumed the extracts regularly. There is immediate public health need to better understand kratom extract consumer experiences given that these products are unregulated but widely used. Such data have ecological validity and can inform next steps for funding and research.