Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Nov 15;272:118478. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118478. Epub 2021 Jul 24. A novel LC-MS/MS method for complete composition analysis of polysaccharides by aldononitrile acetate and multiple reaction monitoring. Li Y(1), Liang J(1), Gao JN(1), Shen Y(1), Kuang HX(1), Xia YG(2). Author information: (1)Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine), Ministry of Education, 24 Heping Road, Harbin 150040, PR China. (2)Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica (Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine), Ministry of Education, 24 Heping Road, Harbin 150040, PR China. Electronic address: yonggangxia@163.com. Carbohydrate analysis has always been a challenging task due to the occurrence of high polarity and multiple isomers. Aldoses are commonly analyzed by gas liquid chromatography (GLC) following aldononitrile acetate derivatization (AND). However, the GLC technique cannot be applied for the simultaneous determination of aldoses, ketoses, and uronic acids. In this study, a new method based on the combination of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and AND is developed for the complete characterization of monosaccharide composition (i.e., aldoses, ketoses, alditols, amino sugars, and uronic acids) in plant-derived polysaccharides. In addition to discussing the possible byproducts, the study optimizes the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) parameters and LC conditions. The final separation of 17 carbohydrates is performed on a BEH Shield RP18 column (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) within 25 min, without using any buffer salt. Notably, the complex polysaccharides extracted from Ligusticum chuanxiong, Platycodon grandiflorum, Cyathula officinalis Kuan, Juglans mandshurica Maxim, and Aralia elata (Miq.). Seem bud can be successfully characterized using the developed method. Overall, the results demonstrated that the newly established LC-MS/MS MRM method is more effective and powerful than the GLC-based methods reported previously, and it is more suitable for the analysis of highly complex natural polysaccharides, including complex pectins, fructosans, and glycoproteins. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118478 PMID: 34420737 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 2. J Immunol. 1990 Jul 15;145(2):616-22. V kappa gene usage, idiotype expression, and antigen binding among clones expressing the VHX24 gene family derived from naive and anti-idiotype immune BALB/c mice. Bonilla FA(1), Zaghouani H, Rubin M, Bona C. Author information: (1)Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, NY 10029. The BALB/c myeloma protein ABPC48 binds beta(2-6)-linked fructosans and expresses genes derived from the VHX24 and V kappa 10 gene families. We have selected 30 hybridomas expressing the VHX24 gene family derived from mitogen-stimulated spleen cells of naive BALB/c mice and mice injected at birth with the syngeneic monoclonal anti-ABPC48Id, IDA10. The majority of mAb with kappa L chains uses V kappa 1. Antibodies reacting with IDA10 use both V kappa 10 and V kappa 1. Most of these VHX24+ mAb reacted with one or more members of a limited panel of predominantly polysaccharide Ag that have been previously observed to interact with antibodies expressing the VHX24 gene family. Nucleotide sequencing of selected VH and V kappa genes shows a very low frequency of somatic mutation. The effect of neonatal anti-Id injection on VHX24-V kappa pairing and Id expression is discussed. PMID: 2114445 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 3. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1979 Feb 9;566(2):274-82. doi: 10.1016/0005-2744(79)90031-7. The cell wall-associated levansucrase of Actinomyces viscosus. Pabst MJ, Cisar JO, Trummel CL. Actinomyces viscosus produces both a soluble extracellular levansucrase and a cell wall-associated levansucrase. The enzyme from cell walls was solubilized by lysozyme digestion. The soluble extracellular and cell wall-associated forms of the enzyme were compared and appeared to be identical, based on molecular weight estimations, kinetic parameters, and reactions with antisera. The product of both forms of the enzyme was a high molecular weight, branched levan, as shown by its reactivity with myeloma proteins specific for beta(2 leads to 1) and for beta(2 leads to 6) linkages in fructosans. Although levansucrase remained tightly bound to the levan which it synthesized, the enzyme did not bind to exogeneously added levan. Regarding the potential pathogenicity of the levan product, pure levan, produced using purified levansucrase, did weakly activate complement by the alternative pathway. However, the pure levan did not directly cause bone resorption in an in vitro bone resorption assay. DOI: 10.1016/0005-2744(79)90031-7 PMID: 105761 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 4. Immunology. 1977 Aug;33(2):261-7. The mitogenic, immunogenic and tolerogenic properties of dextrans and levans. Lack of correlation according to differences of molecular structure and size. Moreno C, Hale C, Ivanyi L. The mitogenicity of dextrans, levans and some of their depolymerized fractions was assayed in vitro using spleen cells from CBA mice and compared with their immunogenic and tolerogenic potency in vivo. Two branched dextrans (B1355 and B1299) induced a greater increase in DNA synthesis than linear dextran B512 which was only feebly mitogenic. The activity of B1355 was greater than that of B1299 and induced a level of stimulation similar to that of polyanions (dextran sulphate and polystyrene sulphonic acid). Dextrans B1355 and B1299 were relatively poor tolerogens for the α1–6 glucosyl epitope whilst the native linear dextran B512 was much more effective. Their immunogenicity for this specificity also decreased in the order B512, B1355, B1299. All depolymerised fractions of B512 induced only minimal mitogenic responses bearing no relevance to their immunogenic and tolerogenic potentials, which declined in parallel with decreasing molecular weight to extinction at 2×104. Native levan, hydrolyzed fractions of it and perennial rye grass fructosans were all equally potent mitogens irrespective of their molecular weight. In contrast, the controlled hydrolysis of levan can, according to extent, abrogate either both its immunogenicity and tolerogenicity or immunogenicity alone. These results together seem incompatible with the hypothesis that discrimination between immunity and tolerance induced by T-independent antigens depends on the intensity of mitogenic stimulation to which they subject corresponding specific B cells. PMCID: PMC1445345 PMID: 608689 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 5. Br J Cancer. 1977 Jul;36(1):41-8. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1977.152. Mechanism of the anti-tumour effect of glucans and fructosans: a comparison with C. parvum. Bomford R, Moreno C. The anti-tumour activity induced by glucans (lentinan, yeast cell walls, pseudonigeran, dextran, DEAE-dextran and dextran sulphate) and fructosans (levan and carboxymethyl-levan) was compared with the activity of C. parvum. The following effects on tumour systems in CBA mice were assayed: (a) adjuvant activity on the immune response against tumour-specific transplantation antigens (TSTA) with a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma; (b) cytostatic activity of peritoneal macrophages against radiation-induced leukaemia cells; and (c) inhibition of tumour nodule formation in the lungs following i.v. injection of fibrosarcoma cells. All the polysaccharides induced cytostatic macrophages, but the dextrans and levans did so only after i.p. and not i.v. injection. Only lentinan, yeast cell walls and pseudonigeran were active in the lung-nodule inhibition test; and only lentinan and dextran sulphate showed slight adjuvant activity for TSTA. It is concluded that the anti-tumour activity induced by these polysaccharides is predominantly non-specific macrophage-mediated and much weaker than that found with C. parvum. DOI: 10.1038/bjc.1977.152 PMCID: PMC2025443 PMID: 889684 [Indexed for MEDLINE]