Alkaloid formulations

Abstract

There is provided an alkaloid formulation comprising the reaction product of one or more alkaloids with one or more phosphate derivatives of one or more electron transfer agents.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention is directed to formulations comprising one or more alkaloids. More specifically but not exclusively it relates to formulations comprising one or more alkaloids and one or more phosphate derivatives of electron transfer agents. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date: part of common general knowledge, or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned. [0003] Alkaloids [0004] There is a long history of the use of alkaloids for medicine. These compounds were originally extracted from plants and include nitrogenous compounds having physiological actions on humans as drugs and poisons. The term “alkaloids” as used in this description and in the claims inc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0026] It has been found that there is a significant improvement in administration when an alkaloid compound is complexed directly to a phosphate derivative of an electron transfer agent. For example, the administration of morphine was improved when it was complexed directly to tocopheryl phosphate.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for improving the efficacy of an alkaloid, said method comprising the step of reacting the alkaloid with one or more phosphate derivative of one or more electron transfer agents.

Problems solved by technology

The alkaloids are a class of drugs that are not commonly administered transdermally because the hydrophilic nature of the salts usually limits transdermal transport.

Not every drug can be administered transdermally at a rate sufficiently high enough to achieve blood levels that are therapeutically beneficial for systemic medication.

But concern has been raised with respect to long term risk because increased drug permeability is achieved at the cost of damaging a fundamentally important protective layer of the skin.

Current strategies to improve transdermal therapy have not been universally successful and there is scope for further improvement.

The lining of the mouth does not have an equivalent of the stratum corneum on the skin so it is not as difficult to administer drugs by buccal delivery, but this method of administration is not commonly used because the rate of transport may be low, achieving an ineffective result if the buccal membranes do not allow permeation or active transport.

Many drugs are administered orally, but a large number of potentially useful drugs are rejected because they are unable to pass through the intestinal walls.

It is understood that substances such as fats are efficiently transported through the intestines, but many others such as tocopherol are poorly transported.

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