An alkaloid found in opium but not closely related to the other opium alkaloids in its structure or pharmacological actions. It is a direct-acting smooth muscle relaxant used in the treatment of impotence and as a vasodilator, especially for cerebral vasodilation. The mechanism of its pharmacological actions is not clear, but it apparently can inhibit phosphodiesterases and it may have direct actions on calcium channels.
Papaverine has been studied across 18 research domains including ❤️ Cardiovascular, ♀♂ Sexual Health, 🦴 Bone & Joint, 🧠 Focus & Attention, 🔬 Inflammation. The primary research focus is ❤️ Cardiovascular with 11% of studies addressing this area.
The following compounds share molecular targets with Papaverine, based on binding affinity data from BindingDB and ChEMBL. Sorted by shared target overlap.
This evidence profile for Papaverine is generated deterministically from 299 PubMed-indexed studies. All data is corpus-verified with Merkle proofs. BiohacksAI does not provide medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional before starting any supplement regimen.
Data source: PubMed/MEDLINE (NLM). Corpus version: current. Patent pending (EVE-PAT-2026-001). © 2026 Organiq Sweden AB.