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. J Ethnopharmacol. 2023 Oct 28;315:116654. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116654. Epub 2023 May 22. 1-Tetracosanol isolated from the leaves of Eupatorium glandulosum, accelerates wound healing by expressing inflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinase. Shalini R(1), Chandrasekar MJN(2), Nanjan MJ(3), Madhunapantula SV(4), Karnik M(4), Selvaraj J(1), Ganesh GNK(5). Author information: (1)Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, 643001, Tamil Nadu, India. (2)School of Life Sciences, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (Ooty Campus), Longwood, Mysuru Road, Ooty, The Nilgiris, 643001, Tamilnadu, India. Electronic address: ncsekar@jssuni.edu.in. (3)Masi Consultants, Ooty, Nilgiris, 643001, India. (4)Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CEMR), Department of Biochemistry, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysore, 570015, Karnataka, India. (5)Department of Pharmaceutics, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Ooty, Nilgiris, 643001, Tamil Nadu, India. ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The leave paste of the plant, Eupatorium glandulosum H. B & K, has been traditionally used to treat cuts and wounds by the tribal community of the Nilgiris district of Tamilnadu, India. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study was carried out to investigate the wound healing potential of this plant extract and the compound, 1-Tetracosanol, isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An in vitro study was designed to compare the viability, migration and apoptosis of the fresh methanolic extract fractions and 1-Tetracosanol using mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cell lines and human keratinocytes HaCaT cell lines, respectively. 1-Tetracosanol was evaluated for its viability, migration, qPCR analysis, in silico, in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: 1-Tetracosanol at the concentration of 800, 1600, 3200 μM has significant wound closure of 99% at 24 h. The compound when screened in silico against various wound healing markers, TNF-α, IL-12, IL-18, GM-CSF and MMP-9, revealed high binding energy of -5, 4.9 and -6.4 kcal/mol for TNF-α, IL-18 and MMP-9, respectively. Gene expression and the release of cytokines increased at an early stage of the wound repair. 1-Tetracosanol, at 2% gel showed 97.35 ± 2.06% wound closure at 21st day. CONCLUSION: 1-Tetracosanol is a good lead for drug development targeted towards wound healing activity and work in this direction is in progress. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116654 PMID: 37225028 [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. Plants (Basel). 2021 Sep 10;10(9):1876. doi: 10.3390/plants10091876. Physicochemical Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity against Erwinia amylovora, Erwinia vitivora, and Diplodia seriata of a Light Purple Hibiscus syriacus L. Cultivar. Sánchez-Hernández E(1), Buzón-Durán L(1), Lorenzo-Vidal B(2), Martín-Gil J(1), Martín-Ramos P(3). Author information: (1)Agriculture and Forestry Engineering Department, ETSIIAA, Universidad de Valladolid, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, Spain. (2)Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Rio Hortega, Calle Dulzaina 2, 47012 Valladolid, Spain. (3)Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), EPS, Universidad de Zaragoza, Carretera de Cuarte s/n, 22071 Huesca, Spain. Phytochemicals are essential raw materials for the production of formulations that can be helpful in crop protection. In particular, Hibiscus spp., which are often used in traditional medicine, are rich in potential bioactive molecules. This study presents an analysis of the thermal, vibrational, and phytochemical characteristics of a light purple variety of Hibiscus syriacus, using thermal gravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy techniques. Further, with a view to its valorization, the antimicrobial activity of its extracts has been investigated in vitro against Erwinia amylovora (the phytopathogen responsible for fire blight in apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae), Erwinia vitivora (the causal agent of the "maladie d'Oléron" in grapevines), and Diplodia seriata (responsible for "Bot canker"). Higher heating values and thermal features showed similarities with kenaf biomass. The main compounds identified in the hydro-methanolic extracts were: in flowers, 1-heptacosanol, heptacosane, 1-tetracosanol, hexadecenoic acid, 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, and 9,12-octadecadienoic acid; and in leaves, the coumarin derivative 4,4,6,8-tetramethyl-2-chromanone, vitamin E, phytol, and sitosterol. MIC values of 500 and 375 μg·mL-1 were obtained against E. amylovora for flower and leaf extracts, respectively, upon conjugation with chitosan oligomers (to improve solubility and bioavailability). In the case of E. vitivora, MIC values of 250 and 500 μg·mL-1, respectively, were registered. Regarding the antifungal activity, EC90 values of 975.8 and 603.5 μg·mL-1, respectively, were found. These findings suggest that H. syriacus (cv. 'Mathilde') may be a promising source of antimicrobials for agriculture. DOI: 10.3390/plants10091876 PMCID: PMC8468437 PMID: 34579407 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results. 3. J Chromatogr A. 2017 Sep 8;1514:110-119. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2017.07.068. Epub 2017 Jul 21. Fast, sensitive, and selective gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the target analysis of chemical secretions from femoral glands in lizards. Sáiz J(1), García-Roa R(2), Martín J(2), Gómara B(3). Author information: (1)Institute of General Organic Chemistry, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Calle Juan de la Cierva, 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jorge.saizg@gmail.com. (2)Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain. (3)Institute of General Organic Chemistry, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Calle Juan de la Cierva, 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Chemical signaling is a widespread mode of communication among living organisms that is used to establish social organization, territoriality and/or for mate choice. In lizards, femoral and precloacal glands are important sources of chemical signals. These glands protrude chemical secretions used to mark territories and also, to provide valuable information from the bearer to other individuals. Ecologists have studied these chemical secretions for decades in order to increase the knowledge of chemical communication in lizards. Although several studies have focused on the chemical analysis of these secretions, there is a lack of faster, more sensitive and more selective analytical methodologies for their study. In this work a new GC coupled to tandem triple quadrupole MS (GC-QqQ (MS/MS)) methodology is developed and proposed for the target study of 12 relevant compounds often found in lizard secretions (i.e. 1-hexadecanol, palmitic acid, 1-octadecanol, oleic acid, stearic acid, 1-tetracosanol, squalene, cholesta-3,5-diene, α-tocopherol, cholesterol, ergosterol and campesterol). The method baseline-separated the analytes in less than 7min, with instrumental limits of detection ranging from 0.04 to 6.0ng/mL. It was possible to identify differences in the composition of the samples from the lizards analyzed, which depended on the species, the habitat occupied and the diet of the individuals. Moreover, α-tocopherol has been determined for the first time in a lizard species, which was thought to lack its expression in chemical secretions. Globally, the methodology has been proven to be a valuable alternative to other published methods with important improvements in terms of analysis time, sensitivity, and selectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2017.07.068 PMID: 28756892 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 4. Food Chem. 2017 Aug 1;228:301-314. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.02.009. Epub 2017 Feb 4. Direct study of minor extra-virgin olive oil components without any sample modification. (1)H NMR multisupression experiment: A powerful tool. Ruiz-Aracama A(1), Goicoechea E(1), Guillén MD(2). Author information: (1)Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lascaray Research Center, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad n° 7, 01006 Vitoria, Spain. (2)Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lascaray Research Center, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad n° 7, 01006 Vitoria, Spain. Electronic address: mariadolores.guillen@ehu.eus. Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR) was employed to study monovarietal commercial Spanish extra-virgin olive oils (EVOO) (Arbequina, Arroniz, Cornicabra, Hojiblanca and Picual). Each sample was analyzed by a standard pulse and by an experiment suppressing the main lipid signals, enabling the detection of signals of minor components. The aim was to determine the possibilities of both 1H NMR approaches to characterize EVOO composition, focusing on acyl groups, squalene, sterols, triterpene acids/esters, fatty alcohols, wax esters and phenols (lignans, tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, oleocanthal, oleacein, oleokoronal, oleomissional, ligstrodials and oleuropeindials), and to determine hydrolysis and oxidation levels. The signal assignments (in deuterated chloroform) are thoroughly described, identifying for the first time those of the protons of esters of phytol and of geranylgeraniol. Correct signal assignment is fundamental for obtaining sound results when interpreting statistical data from metabolomic studies of EVOO composition and adulteration, making it possible to differentiate and classify oils. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.02.009 PMID: 28317728 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 5. Chem Cent J. 2014 Jan 3;8(1):1. doi: 10.1186/1752-153X-8-1. Chemical composition and in vitro evaluation of the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of pitaya (dragon fruit) peel. Luo H, Cai Y, Peng Z, Liu T, Yang S(1). Author information: (1)Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group Beijing Haiyan Pharmaceutical Co,, Ltd, Beijing 102206, P R China. yangsj2003@gmail.com. BACKGROUND: Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus are two varieties of the commonly called pitaya fruits, and pitaya fruits have gained popularity in many countries all over the world. However, studies on chemical composition and the nutritional quality of pitaya flesh peel are limited. RESULTS: Extracts of pitaya (H. polyrhizus and H. undatus) peel were extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Their cytotoxic and antioxidant activities were investigated. The main components of H. polyrhizus extract were β-amyrin (15.87%), α-amyrin (13.90%), octacosane (12.2%), γ-sitosterol (9.35%), octadecane (6.27%), 1-tetracosanol (5.19%), stigmast-4-en-3-one (4.65%), and campesterol (4.16%), whereas H. undatus were β-amyrin (23.39%), γ-sitosterol (19.32%), and octadecane (9.25%), heptacosane (5.52%), campesterol (5.27%), nonacosane (5.02%), and trichloroacetic acid, hexadecyl ester (5.21%). Both of the two extracts possessed good cytotoxic activities against PC3, Bcap-37, and MGC-803 cells (IC50 values ranging from 0.61 to 0.73 mg/mL), and the activities of their main components were also studied. Furthermore, these extracts also presented some radical scavenging activities, with IC50 values of 0.83 and 0.91 mg/mL, respectively. CONCLUSION: This paper provides evidence for studying the chemical composition of supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of pitaya peel and their biological activity. DOI: 10.1186/1752-153X-8-1 PMCID: PMC3880984 PMID: 24386928