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. Nat Prod Res. 2016;30(10):1144-9. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2015.1046132. Epub 2015 Jul 3. Cytotoxic monoterpenoid indole alkaloids isolated from the barks of Voacanga africana Staph. Chen HM(1), Yang YT(1), Li HX(1), Cao ZX(1), Dan XM(1), Mei L(1), Guo DL(1), Song CX(1), Dai Y(1), Hu J(1), Deng Y(1). Author information: (1)a The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Systematic Research Development and Utilization of Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine , Chengdu 611137 , P.R. China. A new monoterpenoid indole alkaloid compound (1) and six known monoterpenoid indole alkaloids compounds (2-7) were isolated from the barks of Voacanga africana Staph. The structures were established by spectral analysis as ibogamine-16-carboxylic acid,17,20-didehydro-5,6-dioxo-10-methoxy-methyl ester (1), voacamine (2), vobasine (3), voacangine (4), voacristine (5), 19-epi-voacristine (6) and 19-epi-heyneanine (7). Compound 1 was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. All of the isolated compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity against five cell lines (HEPG-2, A375, MDA-MB-231, SH-SY5Y, CT26). Among them, compounds 2 and 6 displayed significant inhibitory activities, compounds 3, 4 and 5 showed moderate inhibitory activities, while compounds 1 and 7 showed no inhibitory activities against the five cell lines. DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2015.1046132 PMID: 26140390 [Indexed for MEDLINE]