Pain · Investigational
Dynorphin A
No lawful US pathway
01 · Overview
Dynorphin A is a 17-amino acid endogenous opioid peptide derived from prodynorphin that preferentially activates kappa-opioid receptors (PMID 10619553). Dynorphins are released in the brain during stress and act on kappa receptors in the brain and spinal cord, producing analgesia but also dysphoria-like, anxiety-like, and addiction-related behaviors in animals (PMID 23152558).
Unlike mu-opioid agonists, kappa activation does not typically produce euphoria. At micromolar concentrations, dynorphin A fragments also have non-opioid excitotoxic actions that depend on NMDA receptors, shown in cultured spinal neurons (PMID 10619553).
02 · Research summary & key findings
In animal studies, spinal dynorphin rises after peripheral nerve injury, and mouse strains that fail to show this rise do not develop neuropathic pain, supporting a pronociceptive role (PMID 14667440). In small human studies, intravenous dynorphin A(1-13) produced brief subjective effects without changes in breathing, heart rate, or blood pressure, but it slightly worsened rather than eased naloxone-precipitated withdrawal (PMID 9190848). In opioid-dependent patients, it modestly reduced some withdrawal signs and was well tolerated (PMID 9676891). Clinical development of dynorphin itself has not advanced, given its short duration of action and complex pharmacology.
03 · Regulatory status
Dynorphin A is in the investigational stage. While preclinical and early-phase data exist, it has not received regulatory approval for clinical use in the United States.
No lawful pathway today
Dynorphin A is not FDA-approved and does not currently have a lawful prescription or compounding pathway in the United States, so we do not sell it and will not book a consultation for it. That can change: in 2026 FDA began reviewing several peptides for compounding. If you are working on the goal it is studied for, a licensed clinician can tell you what is lawfully available, which may be something else.
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Dynorphin A is an investigational compound, is not FDA-approved, and has no lawful US compounding pathway, so we do not offer it and no clinician we work with will prescribe it. Products sold online as “research chemicals” are not made or tested to the standards required of medicines. If you are working on injury recovery and tissue repair, a licensed clinician can tell you at a free consultation whether an FDA-approved or lawfully compounded treatment fits you, or whether nothing does.
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04 · Administration routes
- Endogenous peptide
References
- [1]Dynorphin A (1-13) neurotoxicity in vitro: opioid and non-opioid mechanisms in mouse spinal cord neurons Exp Neurol, 1999. PMID 10619553
- [2]Mouse strains that lack spinal dynorphin upregulation after peripheral nerve injury do not develop neuropathic pain Neuroscience, 2004. PMID 14667440
- [3]Dynorphin--still an extraordinarily potent opioid peptide Mol Pharmacol, 2013. PMID 23152558
- [4]Human pharmacology of the opioid neuropeptide dynorphin A(1-13) J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 1997. PMID 9190848
- [5]Effects of dynorphin A(1-13) on opiate withdrawal in humans Psychopharmacology (Berl), 1998. PMID 9676891
Primary literature
- PubMed: "Dynorphin A"
Peer-reviewed literature indexed by the National Library of Medicine.
- ClinicalTrials.gov: "Dynorphin A"
Registered interventional and observational studies, including status and phase.
- PubChem: "Dynorphin A"
Chemical structure, molecular properties, and bioactivity data.
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