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. Biomed Pharmacother. 2023 Nov;167:115413. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115413. Epub 2023 Sep 8. Costunolide and parthenolide: Novel blood-brain barrier permeable sesquiterpene lactones to improve barrier tightness. Ávila-Gálvez MÁ(1), Marques D(2), Figueira I(2), Cankar K(3), Bosch D(3), Brito MA(4), Dos Santos CN(5). Author information: (1)Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Av. República, Qta. Marquês, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal; iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. (2)iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. (3)Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen Plant Research, BU Bioscience, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708PB Wageningen, the Netherlands. (4)Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal. (5)Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Av. República, Qta. Marquês, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal; iNOVA4Health, NOVA Medical School|Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, NMS|FCM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: claudia.nunes.santos@nms.unl.pt. Sesquiterpene lactones - such as those found in chicory - are considered promising bioactive compounds. These small molecules have shown several health benefits for various diseases, including brain disorders. However, it is unknown whether these compounds can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and which could be the effects on brain microvascular endothelial cells. We show that six sesquiterpene lactones evaluated in an in vitro model of the BBB have different capacities to be transported through the barrier. Costunolide presented more than 20 % of transport while lactucin, 11β-13-dihydrolactucin, 11β-13-dihydrolactucopicrin, and parthenolide presented between 10 % and 20 %, whilst almost no transport was detected for lactucopicrin. Furthermore, costunolide and parthenolide reduced P-gp ABC transporter expression alongside an increase in caveolin-1, the main protein of caveolae. Remarkably, these two compounds improved barrier tightness by increasing the expression of both tight and adherens junctions. These findings open a new avenue to explore costunolide and parthenolide as promising compounds for brain therapies. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.115413 PMID: 37683593 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. 2. Nutrients. 2020 Nov 19;12(11):3547. doi: 10.3390/nu12113547. Assessing the Intestinal Permeability and Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Sesquiterpene Lactones from Chicory. Matos MS(1), Anastácio JD(1)(2), Allwood JW(3), Carregosa D(1)(2), Marques D(2), Sungurtas J(3), McDougall GJ(3), Menezes R(1)(2), Matias AA(1), Stewart D(3), Santos CND(1)(2). Author information: (1)Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Av. República, Qta. Marquês, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal. (2)CEDOC, Chronic Diseases Research Centre, NOVA Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, 130, 1169-056 Lisboa, Portugal. (3)Plant Biochemistry and Food Quality Group, Environmental and Biochemical Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK. Cichorium intybus L. has recently gained major attention due to large quantities of health-promoting compounds in its roots, such as inulin and sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). Chicory is the main dietary source of SLs, which have underexplored bioactive potential. In this study, we assessed the capacity of SLs to permeate the intestinal barrier to become physiologically available, using in silico predictions and in vitro studies with the well-established cell model of the human intestinal mucosa (differentiated Caco-2 cells). The potential of SLs to modulate inflammatory responses through modulation of the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) pathway was also evaluated, using a yeast reporter system. Lactucopicrin was revealed as the most permeable chicory SL in the intestinal barrier model, but it had low anti-inflammatory potential. The SL with the highest anti-inflammatory potential was 11β,13-dihydrolactucin, which inhibited up to 54% of Calcineurin-responsive zinc finger (Crz1) activation, concomitantly with the impairment of the nuclear accumulation of Crz1, the yeast orthologue of human NFAT. DOI: 10.3390/nu12113547 PMCID: PMC7699524 PMID: 33228214 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.