The invention is based in part on the discovery that nonselective &kgr; agonists that possess &mgr; receptor-mediated effects in addition to their &kgr; agonist effects can decrease cocaine self-administration more effectively and with fewer undesirable side effects than can highly selective &kgr; agonists. The invention includes a number of new compounds having both nonselective &kgr; opioid receptor agonist activity and additional activity at &mgr; opioid receptors. These compounds are useful for the treatment of cocaine abuse, and can also be radiolabeled for use as imaging agents, e.g., the N-fluoroalkyl and iodoalkyl derivatives can be used, respectively, for positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon computed tomography (SPECT) brain imaging.
本发明部分基于以下发现:除了具有&kgr;受体介导作用外,还具有&mgr;受体介导作用的非选择性&kgr;激动剂比高选择性&kgr;激动剂能更有效地减少
可卡因的自我给药,且不良副作用更少。本发明包括一些既具有非选择性&kgr;阿片受体激动剂活性,又具有&mgr;阿片受体额外活性的新化合物。这些化合物可用于治疗
可卡因滥用,也可进行放射性标记用作成像剂,例如,N-氟烷基和
碘烷基衍
生物可分别用于正电子发射断层扫描(PET)和单光子计算机断层扫描(
SPECT)脑成像。