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. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo). 2006 Jun;54(6):915-7. doi: 10.1248/cpb.54.915. In vitro leishmanicidal constituents of Millettia pendula. Takahashi M(1), Fuchino H, Sekita S, Satake M, Kiuchi F. Author information: (1)Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0843, Japan. The in vitro leishmanicidal constituents of Millettia pendula were examined. Two new compounds, 1 (millettilone A) and 2 (millettilone B), were isolated from the methanol extract of M. pendula, together with six known compounds: 3R-claussequinone (3), pendulone (4), secundiflorol I (5), 3,8-dihydroxy-9-methoxypterocarpan (6), 3,10-dihydroxy-7,9-dimethoxypterocarpan (7), and formononetin (8). Among these, pendulone showed the most potent leishmanicidal activity. Compound 2 was found to be a purple pigment in this heartwood. Their chemical structures were elucidated using spectral methods. DOI: 10.1248/cpb.54.915 PMID: 16755071 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 2. Anticancer Res. 2004 May-Jun;24(3a):1481-8. Cytotoxicty and radical modulating activity of isoflavones and isoflavanones from Sophora species. Shirataki Y(1), Wakae M, Yamamoto Y, Hashimoto K, Satoh K, Ishihara M, Kikuchi H, Nishikawa H, Minagawa K, Motohashi N, Sakagami H. Author information: (1)Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University, Sakado, Saitama, Japan. shiratak@josai.ac.jp We investigated 2 isoflavones and 9 isoflavanones from Sophora species for their cytotoxic activity against 3 normal human cells (gingival fibroblast, pulp cell, periodontal ligament fibroblast) and 2 human tumor cell lines (squamous cell carcinoma HSC-2, submandibular gland carcinoma HSG). Compounds with 2 isoprenyl groups (one in A-ring and the other in B-ring) such as tetrapterol G [YS31] and isosophoranone [YS24], and those with alpha,alpha-dimethylallyl group at C-5' of B-ring [YS26 (secundifloran), YS27 (secundiflorol A), YS28 (secundiflorol D), YS29 (secundiflorol E)] showed relatively higher cytotoxic activity. When hydrophobicity was assessed by octanol-water partition coefficient (log P), the maximum cytotoxic activity was observed at a log P value around 4. Compounds with intermediate cytotoxic activity [YS27, genistein, YS28, YS29, YS30 (secundiflorol F)] showed relatively higher tumor specificity. All isoflavones and isoflavanones did not stimulate the nitric oxide (NO) production by mouse macrophage-like Raw 264.7 cells, but almost completely inhibited the NO production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated Raw 264.7 cells. ESR spectroscopy showed that YS26 and YS28, which are the most inhibitory for NO production, efficiently scavenged superoxide anion and NO radicals. These data suggest that the inhibition of macrophage NO production by these isoflavanones may, at least in part, be explained by their radical scavenging or reduction activity. PMID: 15274313 [Indexed for MEDLINE]