Expanded 2-paragraph summary at 6th grade reading level:

Kratom is a plant that grows in Southeast Asia. People use it to have more energy and help with pain. The leaves of the kratom plant have chemicals in them that can act like opioid drugs. Some people use kratom instead of other drugs or to help with opioid withdrawal. However, kratom can also be dangerous and cause serious side effects.

Researchers looked at urine samples from 29 people who tested positive for one of the kratom chemicals called mitragynine. They found that the urine samples had four different forms of mitragynine, called diastereomers. This means the kratom plant contains more than just mitragynine. The researchers had to use a special test to be able to identify all four diastereomers.

This is important because in some countries, only mitragynine is illegal, while the other forms are not.

This study was done in the real world, not in a lab. The researchers analyzed urine samples from people who had used kratom. The study involved humans, not animal

Key takeaways:

• Kratom contains four different forms of the chemical mitragynine, called diastereomers
• Routine drug tests may only detect one form of mitragynine, even though the other forms
  are also present
• Identifying all four diastereomers is important for understanding kratom use and potential
  legal issues
• This study used real-world urine samples from people who had used kratom, not lab
  experiments

For further reading:

https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.3391

Full Citation:

Helander, A., & Rylski, A. (2023). Drug testing for mitragynine and kratom: Analytical challenges and medico-legal considerations. Drug Testing and Analysis, 15(2), 213-219.