Psychoactive plants activity

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Although the risks and problems are widely discussed, it s also clear that psychoactive plants and chemicals have played a positive role in many people s lives. As our culture struggles with integrating the increasing variety and availability of these substances into its political and social structures, new educational models are clearly needed. Erowid is founded on the belief that a healthy relationship with psychoactives is one grounded in balance, where use is part of an active, intellectual, physical, and spiritual life. 

It was soon apparent that this compilation would become unmanageably large. The first major trimming was the elimination of the compounds that were synthetic, and the limitation of the listing to those compounds that have been reported as plant products. These isoquinolines could play the dual role of serving not only as potential contributors to the action of psychoactive plants but also as prototypes for the synthesis of new materials that might themselves be biologically active. 

Psychoactive plants have been used by humans for recreational, spiritual, and therapeutic purposes for millennia (6). It is evident from the African plants that have received the most attention, such as T. iboga and Catha edulis that research has been focused on those plants most commonly used for spiritual or recreational purposes. This is understandable as these plants are often more obvious because of their cultural importance and consequently more noticeable, in particular hallucinogens. The more subtle, often more therapeutically important plants, such as mild stimulants, sedatives, those used to treat convulsions and epilepsy have been sadly overlooked. The CNS-related mode of action of many plants may not immediately be obvious, for example nausea and vomiting are associated with the gastrointestinal system but is often treated via the CNS with scopolamine. The hunger-suppressant (anorectic) activities of South African succulent plants of the species Hoodia (7) are another example. 

This next example involves the well-known plant kawa. A psychoactive beverage made from the roots of this plant is used widely in the islands of the southwestern Pacific Ocean either for ritualistic or routine consumption. Kava is the common name for Piper methysticum Forst. f. from which several compounds responsible for the pharmacological activity have been isolated and identified. Representative structures of the family of styrylpyrones, commonly called kavalactones, are given in Fig. 6.6. The compounds are based upon a carbon skeleton consisting of a styryl function (C C ) attached to a six-membered lactone ring. The fundamental compound, kawain, is shown as structure [547]. Structural variants include... 

Anandamide inhibited the specific binding of [ H]-HU-243 to synaptosomal membranes in a manner typical of competitive ligands, with an inhibition constant (K ) of 39.0 + 5.0 nM. In this system, the of tsP-THC, a psychoactive compound of cannabis, was 46.0 + 3-0 nM. These were exciting results — the psychoactive compound from a higher plant and a chemically completely different compound in the brain were found to bind to the same brain receptor at about the same level of activity. Soon after the identification of anandamide, this compound was tested for its pharmacological activity. Anandamide administered i.p. in mice, caused... 

Cannabis sativa plants contain at least 400 different compounds, of which as many as 60 are structurally related to 5 -tetrahydrocannabinol (5 -THC), the primary psychoactive constituent of cannabis. When cannabis is smoked, hundreds of additional compounds are produced by pyrolysis, which may contribute to both acute and chronic effects (Abood and Martin, 1992). The central nervous system actions of canna-binoids are mediated primarily through the CBj receptor. A second type of cannabinoid receptor, termed the CB2 receptor, is distributed primarily in the periphery (Gifford et ah, 1999). Activation of central cannabinoid receptors modulates neurotransmitter release at... 

Jativa at the Botanical Institute of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They found that this plant was a hitherto undescribed species of Satvia, which was named Salvia divinorum by these authors. The chemical investigation of the juice of the magic sage in the laboratory in Basel was unsuccessful. The psychoactive principle of this drug seems to be a rather unstable substance, since the juice prepared in Mexico and preserved with alcohol proved in selfexperiments to be no longer active. Where the chemical nature of the active principle is concerned, the problem of the magic plant ska Maria Pastora still awaits solution. 

Cannabinoids are the psychoactive components of marijuana, which has the species name Cannabis sativa. Concentrations of cannabinoids vary greatly from plant to plant. The original strains of this plant species contain very little of these psychoactive components and have been used for many centuries for their great fiber qualities. Strains of Cannabis that may be smoked for psychoactive effects on average contain about 4 percent cannabinoid derivatives. The most active of these derivatives is the compound A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), shown in Figure 14.33 on page 504. 

The psychotropic effects of Salvia divinorum have generated interest among psychopharmacologists and other scientists. Chemical analysis of the plant has succeeded in identifying the active substance, which is now known as salvinorin A. Research on animals and human volunteers indicates that the psychoactive effects of salvinorin A are comparable to those of mescaline. As little as 200-500 meg of salvinorin A will reliably produce hallucinations in people, when the crystallized substance is vaporized over a flame and inhaled. On the basis of effective dose, salvinorin A is the most potent natural hallucinogen known. The leaves have been determined to contain 1—4 mg of salvinorin A per gram of dry weight. 

The psychoactive and medicinal chemical compounds found in the resin of the marijuana plant are known as cannabinoids. The cannabis plant contains more than 460 known compounds over 60 of these have a cannabinoid structure. The only cannabinoid that is highly psychoactive and present in large amounts in the resin of the cannabis plant is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The other two major cannabinoids are the cannabidiols and the cannabinols. It appears that the cannabis plant first produces the mildly active cannabidiols, which are converted to the more psychoactive THCs and then broken down to relatively inactive... 

All parts of the hemp plant contain psychoactive substances some 60 active ingredients, the cannabinoids, have been isolated from the plant to date. In addition, over 300 non-cannabinoid compounds have been identified which do not appear to contribute to the psychoactive properties of the plant. The highest cannabinoid concentrations are found in the flowering heads. 

Psychoactive substances (including plants) are those that alter some aspect of the mind including behavior, mood, anxiety, cognition, and well-being [61]. They may be classified in three types a) depressors of Central Nervous System (CNS) activity, such as neuroleptics, anxiolytics, and hypnotics b) CNS stimulants - antidepressives and amphetamines, mainly and, finally, c) disturbers of the CNS - hallucinogens [62]. 

Cannabis preparations in the form of marihuana, hashish, etc. have been known and used for many years for their psychoactive and therapeutic properties. The major active constituent of the resin which is exuded by the female plants of Cannabis sativa L. is (-)-6a,10a- rans-1 - hydroxy-3-n-pentyl-6,6,9-trimethyl-6a,7,8,l Oa-tetrahydr odibenzo[b,d]pyran, also known as (-)-6a,10a- rans-A-9-tetrahydrocan-nabinol or A9-THC. The structure and absolute configuration of this material was first reported by Gaoni et al. in J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 86, 1646 (1964). Since that time considerable research has been directed towards the preparation of this compound via a synthetic method, thereby eliminating the need to obtain the material by extraction from natural sources. 

It is significant to note that neither one of these plant substances by itself is normally psychoactive in oral doses. (Harmine/harmaline is said to effect hallucinosis at highly toxic levels, but in less heroic quantities it is at best a tranquilizer, at worst an emetic.) DMT, in any quantity, is not orally active unless used in combination with a monoamine oxidase (AAAO) inhibitor. This principle is precisely what makes ayahuasca effective the harmala alkaloids in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine are potent short-term MAO inhibitors which synergize with the DMT-containing Psychotria viridis leaves to produce what has been described as one of the most profound of all psychedelic experiences. 

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