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. Br J Nutr. 2024 Nov 7:1-6. doi: 10.1017/S0007114524001363. Online ahead of print. Recommended or high daily intakes of plant stanol esters do not affect ex vivo T-cell derived cytokine production in immunologically healthy volunteers. van Brakel L(1), Brüll F(1), Lasfar A(1), Zwaan W(1), de Jong A(1), Mensink RP(1), Plat J(1). Author information: (1)Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands. A well-functioning immune system requires balanced immune responses. In vitro studies have shown that plant stanols contribute to restoring the T-helper (Th)1/Th2 ratio when it is imbalanced. However, effects of plant stanols on healthy immune responses are unknown. Therefore, we studied effects of recommended (2·5 g/d) or high (9·0 g/d) plant stanol intakes on the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in immunologically healthy subjects. In two RCTs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated, cultured, and stimulated with 5 µg/ml Phytohemagglutinin-M to study ex vivo cytokine production. In the first study, twenty participants consumed margarines (2·5 g/d plant stanols) or control for three weeks. In the second study, nineteen participants consumed margarines and yogurts (9·0 g/d plant stanols) or control for four weeks. T-cell cytokine concentrations were measured in culture medium and in study 2 a standardized Th1/Th2 index was calculated. Serum lipids and non-cholesterol sterols were also measured. Compliance was confirmed by significant increases in serum total cholesterol (TC)-standardized sitostanol and campestanol levels in both studies. Changes in ex vivo cytokine production and Th1/Th2 index did not differ between intervention and control groups. In the first study, no statistically significant changes were observed in lipid and lipoprotein concentrations. In the second study, LDL cholesterol significantly decreased compared to control (-0·77 (-1·11, -0·42) mmol/l; P < 0·001). Recommended (2·5 g/d) or high (9·0 g/d) intakes of plant stanols did not alter PBMC ex vivo cytokine production in immunologically healthy subjects. This suggests that plant stanols might only affect immune function when Th1/Th2 immune responses are imbalanced. DOI: 10.1017/S0007114524001363 PMID: 39506323 2. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2024 Sep 16;245:106621. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2024.106621. Online ahead of print. Unique sterol metabolite shifts in inflammatory bowel disease and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Matysik S(1), Elger T(2), Huss M(2), Liebisch G(1), Höring M(1), Loibl J(2), Kandulski A(2), Müller M(2), Tews HC(2), Buechler C(3). Author information: (1)Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg 93053, Germany. (2)Department of Internal Medicine I, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology, and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg 93053, Germany. (3)Department of Internal Medicine I, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology, and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg 93053, Germany. Electronic address: christa.buechler@klinik.uni-regensburg.de. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) triggers chronic intestinal inflammation and is linked to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Cholesterol homeostasis, tightly regulated under normal conditions, becomes disrupted in both inflammation and chronic liver disease. We analyzed fecal and serum levels of cholesterol synthesis precursors, oxysterols, and phytosterols in 87 patients with IBD (81 for serum analysis) including patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), 11 patients with PSC, 21 patients with PSC-IBD (18 for serum analysis), and 16 healthy controls (17 for serum analysis). Cholesterol was analysed by flow injection analysis on a high-resolution hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer and further serum sterols and all fecal sterols were analysed by a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. Serum levels of lanosterol, 7-dehydrocholesterol, 7-beta-hydroxycholesterol, 27-hydroxycholesterol, and the plant sterols campesterol, stigmasterol, and sitosterol were similar across control and patient groups. Notably, serum lathosterol was elevated in CD patients compared to those with UC, PSC, PSC-IBD, and healthy controls. All other serum and fecal sterols showed no differences between CD and UC. Cholesterol synthesis precursors in serum, serum cholesterol levels, and both serum and fecal plant sterol levels decreased with increasing IBD severity. Consequently, serum cholesterol, campesterol, sitosterol, and fecal 5-beta sitostanol and 5-alpha sitostanol were negatively correlated with C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin. The conversion of cholesterol to coprostanol in feces was impaired in IBD, PSC, and PSC-IBD, independent of bowel inflammation severity or liver disease extent. Patients with PSC, and to a lesser extent PSC-IBD, had elevated serum plant sterol levels, positively correlating with liver disease markers. In conclusion, in patients with IBD, cholesterol biosynthetic precursors, serum cholesterol levels, and fecal plant sterols decrease with intestinal inflammation. An inverse association of serum plant sterols with intestinal inflammation was observed in patients with IBD and a direct association of serum phytosterols with liver injury in patients with PSC. The conversion of fecal cholesterol to coprostanol was impaired in all patient cohorts. IBD and PSC alter serum sterol levels differently, whereas changes in fecal sterols are not disease specific and are moderate. Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2024.106621 PMID: 39293724 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. 3. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2024 Oct 2;35(10):2376-2389. doi: 10.1021/jasms.4c00229. Epub 2024 Sep 3. Sewage and Organic Pollution Compounds in Nairobi River Urban Sediments Characterized by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). Downham RP(1), Vane CH(2), Gannon B(1), Olaka LA(3), Barrow MP(1). Author information: (1)Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. (2)British Geological Survey, Organic Geochemistry Facility, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, United Kingdom. (3)Technical University of Kenya, Department of Geoscience and Environment, P.O. Box 52428-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Nairobi River sediments from locations adjacent to the Kawangware and Kiambio slums were analyzed via Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry with atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI-FT-ICR-MS). The data from these ultrahigh resolution, untargeted measurements provided new insights into the impacts of local anthropogenic activity, which included likely benzo- and dibenzothiophene pollution with a suspected petrogenic origin, and prominent surfactant-like compositions. Other features in the data included highly abundant tetra-oxygenated compounds, and oxygenated nitrogen compounds with sphingolipid interpretations. Most notably, several hydrocarbon and oxygenated compound classes in the sediment data featured intensity patterns consistent with steroid molecular formulas, including those associated with sewage contamination investigatory work. In support of this interpretation, standards of cholesterol, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, coprostanol, cholestanol, and 5α-sitostanol were analyzed via APPI, to explore steroid ionization behavior. Generally, these analytes produced radical molecular ions ([M]•+), and water-loss pseudo molecular ion species ([M-H2O]•+ and [M+H-H2O]+), among various other less intense contributions. The absence of pseudo molecular protonated species ([M+H]+) was notable for these compounds, because these are often assumed to form with APPI. The standard measurements demonstrated how steroids can create the observed intensity patterns in FT-ICR-MS data, and hence these patterns have the potential to indicate sewage contamination in the analysis of other complex environmental samples. The steroid interpretation for the Kawangware and Kiambio data was further verified by subjecting the steroid standard radical molecular ions to collision-induced dissociation and comparing the detected fragments to those for the corresponding isolated ions from a Kawangware sediment sample. DOI: 10.1021/jasms.4c00229 PMCID: PMC11450967 PMID: 39226373 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no competing financial interest. 4. J Agric Food Chem. 2024 Jul 17;72(28):15672-15679. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c02109. Epub 2024 Jul 1. Human Oral Phase Coupled with In Vitro Dynamic Gastrointestinal Digestion for Assessment of Plant Sterol Bioaccessibility from Wholemeal Rye Bread. Faubel N(1), Barberá R(1), Garcia-Llatas G(1). Author information: (1)Nutrition and Food Science Area, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Valencia, Av. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain. A dynamic gastrointestinal digestion system (simgi) after a human oral phase was used, for the first time, to assess the bioaccessibility of plant sterols (PS) from wholemeal rye bread (74.8 ± 2.2 mg of PS/100 g d.m.) and PS-enriched wholemeal rye bread (PS-WRB) (1.6 ± 0.04 g of PS/100 g of fresh bread). The use of these solid food matrices requires a novel adaptation of the gastric phase of the system. The PS identified in the breads are campesterol, campestanol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, sitostanol, Δ5-avenasterol, Δ5,24-stigmastadienol, Δ7-stigmastenol, and Δ7-avenasterol. The bioaccessibility of the total PS, only quantifiable in PS-WRB, is 19.9%, with Δ7-avenasterol being the most bioaccessible and Δ5-avenasterol being the least (p < 0.05). As shown in this study, PS-WRB can be considered to be a good choice to include in the daily diet. Furthermore, although the use of dynamic digestion methods for evaluating bioaccessibility implies high costs and technical complexity, their application means a closer approximation to in vivo scenarios. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.4c02109 PMCID: PMC11261621 PMID: 38950138 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no competing financial interest. 5. Nutrients. 2024 Apr 5;16(7):1067. doi: 10.3390/nu16071067. Blood Phytosterol Concentration and Genetic Variant Associations in a Sample Population. Garrido-Sanchez L(1), Leiva-Badosa E(1), Llop-Talaveron J(1), Pintó-Sala X(2), Lozano-Andreu T(3), Corbella-Inglés E(2), Alia-Ramos P(4), Arias-Barquet L(5), Ramon-Torrel JM(6), Badía-Tahull MB(1). Author information: (1)Pharmacy Department, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. (2)Cardiovascular Risk Unit, Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. (3)Pharmacy Department, Institut Català d'Oncologia, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. (4)Clinical Laboratory Department, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. (5)Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. (6)Preventive Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Bellvitge, IDIBELL, Universitat Barcelona, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. The main objective of this study was to determine plasma levels of PS and to study SNVs rs41360247, rs4245791, rs4148217, and rs11887534 of ABCG8 and the r657152 SNV at the ABO blood group locus in a sample of a population treated at our hospital, and to determine whether these SNVs are related to plasma PS concentrations. The secondary objective was to establish the variables associated with plasma PS concentrations in adults. Participants completed a dietary habit questionnaire and a blood sample was collected to obtain the following variables: campesterol, sitosterol, sitostanol, lanosterol, stigmasterol, biochemical parameters, and the SNVs. In addition, biometric and demographic variables were also recorded. In the generalized linear model, cholesterol and age were positively associated with total PS levels, while BMI was negatively related. For rs4245791, homozygous T allele individuals showed a significantly lower campesterol concentration compared with C homozygotes, and the GG alleles of rs657152 had the lowest levels of campesterol compared with the other alleles of the SNV. Conclusions: The screening of certain SNVs could help prevent the increase in plasma PS and maybe PNALD in some patients. However, further studies on the determinants of plasma phytosterol concentrations are needed. DOI: 10.3390/nu16071067 PMCID: PMC11013666 PMID: 38613098 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.