ECS modulator (research)
UnscheduledAM4113
5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3-carboxamide
Aliases.AM-4113 · AM 4113
A neutral CB1 antagonist: it blocks the receptor without inverse agonism. A preclinical research tool.
Updated on
Level of detail
Harm-reduction warning
No characterised human dose: animal / in vitro data only. Effect profile, safety margin and acute toxicity are not documented in human clinical practice. Extremely potent compound: severe effects, seizures and deaths reported in the literature.
Identifiers
- Formula
- C₁₇H₁₂Cl₃N₃O
- Molar mass
- 380.70 g·mol⁻¹
- CAS
- -
- PubChem CID
- 66844170
- First described
- Décrit pour la première fois en 2007 par Chambers et ses collègues dans l'American Journal of Physiology, à partir d'un composé synthétisé au Center for Drug Discovery de la Northeastern University par l'équipe d'Alexandros Makriyannis. La caractérisation comportementale a suivi en 2008 avec les travaux de Sink, Parker et Salamone dans Neuropsychopharmacology, puis les études chez le primate non humain de Schindler et Justinova en 2016.
- Origin
- An entirely synthetic molecule, arising from the medicinal chemistry of the diarylpyrazoles opened up by rimonabant. It exists neither in cannabis nor in any other living organism: its use is limited to preclinical laboratory research.
- InChIKey
- BBUKVPCUOHFAQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
In plain terms
AM4113 is a laboratory molecule, unrelated to hemp. Instead of mimicking cannabis, it settles on the CB1 receptor and blocks it, without triggering anything itself: researchers call this a neutral antagonist. It serves solely as an experimental tool in animals and has never been administered to humans.
Receptors and activity
- CB1Ki = 0,80 ± 0,44 nM sur le CB1, sans effet sur la production d'AMP cyclique stimulée par la forskoline jusqu'à 630 nM (Chambers et al., Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 2007)Antagonist
- CB2Affinité environ cent fois plus faible que sur le CB1 (Chambers et al., 2007)Antagonist
- Agonist
- Partial agonist
- Antagonist
- Modulator
- Inverse agonist
Hover over a row for the precise value (Ki, EC50…)
Subjective signature
Hover over an axis to read its definition.
- Calm4
- Clarity5
- Sleep3
- Appetite2
- High2
Editorial estimate, not clinical.
Pharmacology
AM4113 is a neutral and selective antagonist of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, of the diarylpyrazole family, an analogue of rimonabant. Its affinity for CB1 is nanomolar, with about hundredfold selectivity over CB2 (Chambers et al., 2007). What distinguishes it from rimonabant and AM251 is the absence of inverse agonism: it does not alter cyclic AMP production in cells expressing CB1, so it blocks the receptor without lowering its baseline activity. This pharmacological distinction carries most of the compound's scientific interest, since the psychiatric and digestive adverse effects that caused rimonabant to fail are attributed to its inverse agonism. In rodents and in the squirrel monkey, AM4113 reduces food intake and weight gain, decreases self-administration of nicotine, THC and heroin and blocks cue-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, without producing the signs of nausea or the elevation of the intracranial self-stimulation threshold associated with inverse agonists. What the literature has not established is just as clear: no clinical trial, no human safety or efficacy data, an oral bioavailability described as low, and contrasting results on anxiety in the rat depending on the tests used. AM4113 remains a pharmacological tool, notably for demonstrating that an observed effect does indeed depend on CB1, and not a drug candidate.
Key sources.
- Chambers AP, Vemuri VK, Peng Y, Wood JT, Olszewska T, Pittman QJ, Makriyannis A, Sharkey KA. A neutral CB1 receptor antagonist reduces weight gain in rat. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 2007 (première description de l'AM4113, Ki CB1 et absence d'effet sur l'AMP cyclique).PMID 17959701
- Sink KS et al. The novel cannabinoid CB1 receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 suppresses food intake and food-reinforced behavior but does not induce signs of nausea in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008.PMID 17581535
- He XH, Jordan CJ, Vemuri K, Bi GH, Zhan J, Gardner EL, Makriyannis A, Wang YL, Xi ZX. Cannabinoid CB1 receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 inhibits heroin self-administration without depressive side effects in rats. Acta Pharmacol Sin, 2019.PMID 29967454
- Schindler CW, Redhi GH, Vemuri K, Makriyannis A, Le Foll B, Bergman J, Goldberg SR, Justinova Z. Blockade of nicotine and cannabinoid reinforcement and relapse by a cannabinoid CB1-receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 and inverse agonist rimonabant in squirrel monkeys. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2016.PMID 26888056
- Gueye AB et al. CB1 neutral antagonist AM4113 retains the therapeutic efficacy of the inverse agonist rimonabant for nicotine dependence and weight loss with better psychiatric tolerability. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol, 2016 (doses, demi-vie d'environ deux heures, tests d'anxiété et de nage forcée).DOI 10.1093/ijnp/pyw068
- Soler-Cedeño O et al. AM6527, a neutral CB1 receptor antagonist, suppresses opioid taking and seeking, as well as cocaine seeking in rodents without aversive effects. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2024 (rappelle la faible biodisponibilité orale de l'AM4113).PMID 38600154
- Storr MA, Bashashati M, Hirota C et al. Differential effects of CB1 neutral antagonists and inverse agonists on gastrointestinal motility in mice. Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2010.PMID 20180825
- PubChem, fiche composé CID 66844170, NCBI.
- Agence européenne des médicaments, EPAR Acomplia (rimonabant) : suspension de l'autorisation en novembre 2008 et retrait en janvier 2009.
Origin (research tool)
No natural biosynthetic pathway. AM4113 is a product of organic synthesis in the pyrazole-3-carboxamide series, never isolated from a plant, a fungus or an animal tissue.
Legal framework
France
AM4113 is not listed by name on any French narcotics or psychotropics list. Nor is it caught by the generic clause of annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990, which covers tetrahydrocannabinols, their esters, ethers, salts as well as the salts of the aforementioned derivatives: AM4113 is a synthetic diarylpyrazole, with no structural link to THC. Its status is therefore that of an unclassified substance. That does not mean it can be marketed: no marketing authorisation exists, no use is permitted in a consumer product, a food supplement or a cosmetic, and the molecule circulates legally only as a laboratory reagent.
European Union
No classification at European level. AM4113 has never obtained a marketing authorisation from the European Medicines Agency and does not appear among the new psychoactive substances subject to control measures under Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA. It is listed in no schedule of the United Nations conventions of 1961 and 1971, and the European early warning system does not monitor it. The regulatory context of the class remains marked by the suspension of the rimonabant authorisation in November 2008, followed by its withdrawal in January 2009.
Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.
Structural classification
- Class
- ECS modulator (research)
- Origin
- An entirely synthetic molecule, arising from the medicinal chemistry of the diarylpyrazoles opened up by rimonabant. It exists neither in cannabis nor in any other living organism: its use is limited to preclinical laboratory research.
- Status
- Unscheduled
Pyrazole-3-carboxamide de la série des diarylpyrazoles, analogue direct du rimonabant. Aucune parenté structurale avec les cannabinoïdes végétaux ni avec les endocannabinoïdes.
Pharmacokinetics
Les données proviennent uniquement de l'animal. Chez le rat, après administration intrapéritonéale, la demi-vie plasmatique est d'environ deux heures et l'élimination est achevée en une dizaine d'heures. Les doses actives rapportées vont de 0,3 à 10 mg/kg par voie intrapéritonéale chez le rongeur et de 0,1 à 3 mg/kg par voie intramusculaire chez le singe écureuil. La biodisponibilité orale est décrite comme faible, limite qui a motivé le développement d'analogues comme l'AM6527. Aucune donnée humaine de pharmacocinétique n'existe.
Metabolism
Le devenir métabolique n'a pas été caractérisé dans la littérature publique : ni les métabolites, ni la contribution des cytochromes hépatiques, ni les voies d'excrétion n'ont fait l'objet d'une publication dédiée pour cette molécule.
Toxicology and risks
Aucune donnée humaine et aucun essai clinique. Chez le rongeur et le primate non humain, l'AM4113 réduit la prise alimentaire et le gain de poids sans les signes de malaise observés avec les agonistes inverses : pas de réactions de haut-le-cœur conditionnées chez le rat, pas de potentialisation des vomissements, pas d'élévation du seuil d'autostimulation intracrânienne, et un effet de type antidépresseur au test de la nage forcée. Les tests d'anxiété donnent des résultats contrastés, l'absence d'effet au labyrinthe en croix surélevée étant rapportée dans plusieurs travaux alors qu'un signal de type anxiogène a été décrit en champ ouvert. Sur le tube digestif, il ralentit l'expulsion colique là où l'agoniste inverse AM251 accélère le transit. Le risque de fond reste celui de la classe : les troubles psychiatriques survenus sous rimonabant ont conduit à la suspension européenne de son autorisation en 2008, et la tolérance de l'AM4113 chez l'humain n'est pas établie.
Detection and analysis
Aucune méthode de dépistage de routine n'est documentée. L'AM4113 ne figure ni dans les panels toxicologiques usuels ni parmi les substances suivies par le système d'alerte précoce européen sur les nouvelles substances psychoactives, et les immunoessais cannabinoïdes ne le ciblent pas, puisqu'ils recherchent les métabolites du THC. Les dosages publiés relèvent de la recherche préclinique, par chromatographie liquide couplée à la spectrométrie de masse.
References
- 1.Chambers AP, Vemuri VK, Peng Y, Wood JT, Olszewska T, Pittman QJ, Makriyannis A, Sharkey KA. A neutral CB1 receptor antagonist reduces weight gain in rat. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 2007 (première description de l'AM4113, Ki CB1 et absence d'effet sur l'AMP cyclique).PMID 17959701
- 2.Sink KS et al. The novel cannabinoid CB1 receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 suppresses food intake and food-reinforced behavior but does not induce signs of nausea in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008.PMID 17581535
- 3.He XH, Jordan CJ, Vemuri K, Bi GH, Zhan J, Gardner EL, Makriyannis A, Wang YL, Xi ZX. Cannabinoid CB1 receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 inhibits heroin self-administration without depressive side effects in rats. Acta Pharmacol Sin, 2019.PMID 29967454
- 4.Schindler CW, Redhi GH, Vemuri K, Makriyannis A, Le Foll B, Bergman J, Goldberg SR, Justinova Z. Blockade of nicotine and cannabinoid reinforcement and relapse by a cannabinoid CB1-receptor neutral antagonist AM4113 and inverse agonist rimonabant in squirrel monkeys. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2016.PMID 26888056
- 5.Gueye AB et al. CB1 neutral antagonist AM4113 retains the therapeutic efficacy of the inverse agonist rimonabant for nicotine dependence and weight loss with better psychiatric tolerability. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol, 2016 (doses, demi-vie d'environ deux heures, tests d'anxiété et de nage forcée).DOI 10.1093/ijnp/pyw068
- 6.Soler-Cedeño O et al. AM6527, a neutral CB1 receptor antagonist, suppresses opioid taking and seeking, as well as cocaine seeking in rodents without aversive effects. Neuropsychopharmacology, 2024 (rappelle la faible biodisponibilité orale de l'AM4113).PMID 38600154
- 7.Storr MA, Bashashati M, Hirota C et al. Differential effects of CB1 neutral antagonists and inverse agonists on gastrointestinal motility in mice. Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2010.PMID 20180825
- 8.PubChem, fiche composé CID 66844170, NCBI.
- 9.Agence européenne des médicaments, EPAR Acomplia (rimonabant) : suspension de l'autorisation en novembre 2008 et retrait en janvier 2009.
Structured data
- InChIKey
- BBUKVPCUOHFAQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- SMILES
- CC1=C(N(N=C1C(=O)N)C2=C(C=C(C=C2)Cl)Cl)C3=CC=C(C=C3)Cl
- Formula
- C17H12Cl3N3O
- Molar mass
- 380.70 g·mol⁻¹
- PubChem CID
- 66844170
LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.