What is "aporphine"

n. (context organic compound English) One of a class of quinoline alkaloids from which apomorphine can be derived.

Aporphine is one of a class of quinoline alkaloids. Many different relatives of this compound have been purified from plants. One commonly used aporphine derivative is apomorphine, which can be found in Nymphaea caerulea.

Aporphine is a 5-HT1a partial agonist with a ki of 80nM and a 5-HT7 antagonist with a ki of 88nM. Aporphine is a Dopamine D1 antagonist with a ki of 717nM and a dopamine D2 antagonist with a ki of 527nM. Aporphine and its related alkaloids bulbocapnine, boldine, glaucine and corytuberine are antipsychotic, exert naloxone-reversible antinociceptive activity and with the exception of corytuberine are anticonvulsant. Some derivatives of aporphine such as S(+)-N-propylnorapomorphine have potential as low side effect profile antipsychotics. S(+)-N-propylnorapomorphine is highly selective for meso-limbic dopaminergic tracts and function as efficacious partial agonists, with no elevation in prolactin.