Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses.[1] It is typically administered in this context by tranquilizer dart.[1] Carfentanil has also been used in humans to image opioid receptors.[1] It has additionally been used as a recreational drug, typically by injection, insufflation, or inhalation.[1] Deaths have been reported in association with carfentanil.[1][2]
Effects and side effects of carfentanil in humans are similar to those of other opioids and include euphoria, relaxation, pain relief, pupil constriction, drowsiness, sedation, slowed heart rate, low blood pressure, lowered body temperature, loss of consciousness, and suppression of breathing.[1] The effects of carfentanil, including overdose, can be reversed by the opioid antagonists naloxone and naltrexone, though higher doses than usual may be necessary compared to other opioids.[1][2][3]: 23 Carfentanil is a structural analogue of the synthetic opioid analgesic fentanyl.[4] It acts as an ultrapotent and highly selective agonist of the μ-opioid receptor.[1]
Carfentanil was first synthesized in 1974 by a team of chemists at Janssen Pharmaceuticals which included Paul Janssen.[5] It was introduced into veterinary medicine in 1986.[1] Carfentanil is legally controlled in most jurisdictions.[2]
^ abcdefghiZawilska JB, Kuczyńska K, Kosmal W, Markiewicz K, Adamowicz P (March 2021). "Carfentanil – from an animal anesthetic to a deadly illicit drug". Forensic Science International. 320: 110715. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110715. PMID 33581655. S2CID 231918983.
^ abcCite error: The named reference pmid29367860 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Report on the risk assessment of methyl 1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-[phenyl(propanoyl) amino]piperidine-4-carboxylate in the framework of the Council Decision on new psychoactive substances" (PDF). European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. 8 July 2018.
^"Fentanyl drug profile". EMCDDA.
^Stanley TH, Egan TD, Van Aken H (February 2008). "A tribute to Dr. Paul A. J. Janssen: entrepreneur extraordinaire, innovative scientist, and significant contributor to anesthesiology". Anesthesia and Analgesia. 106 (2): 451–62, table of contents. doi:10.1213/ane.0b013e3181605add. PMID 18227300. S2CID 20490363.
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large...
to be different from fentanyl, carfentanil and sufentanil, but it has to be, it has to have the potency of carfentanil at least because otherwise it wouldn’t...
the effects of super-potent opioid analgesics such as etorphine and carfentanil that are used for tranquilizing large animals. The drug is not approved...
was developed in 1960. It is most similar to the highly potent opioid carfentanil (4-carbomethoxyfentanyl), only slightly more potent. Lofentanil can be...
characteristic gray color. Samples have been found to contain heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and the designer drug U-47700. A mixture of drugs misleadingly called...
includes sufentanil, alfentanil, remifentanil, and carfentanil. Some fentanyl analogues, such as carfentanil, are up to 10,000 times stronger than morphine...
derivative. A study published in 2012 concluded that it had been a mixture of carfentanil and remifentanil. The same study pointed out that in a 2011 case at the...
crisis and found two chemical derivatives of fentanyl, remifentanil and carfentanil. In a Mennonite community in Bolivia, eight men were convicted of raping...
opioid overdose, and suppressing cough. Extremely potent opioids such as carfentanil are approved only for veterinary use. Opioids are also frequently used...
veterinary use, and etorphine (along with other tranquilizers such as carfentanil and azaperone) remains the drug of choice in this application. Acetorphine...
change in [11C]carfentanil binding when d-amphetamine, 0.3 mg/kg, was administered intravenously directly before injection of [11C]carfentanil (Guterstam...
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