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 Biotechnol. 2022 Jul 20;353:51-60. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.05.011. Epub 2022 Jun 10. Azotobacter chroococcum and Pseudomonas putida enhance pyrroloquinazoline alkaloids accumulation in Adhatoda vasica hairy roots by biotization. Singh B(1), Sahu PM(2), Aloria M(3), Reddy SS(4), Prasad J(5), Sharma RA(2). Author information: (1)Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur 303 002, India. Electronic address: bsingh@jpr.amity.edu. (2)Department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302 004, India. (3)Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur 303 002, India. (4)Department of Biotechnology, KL University, Guntur 522502, India; Pratistha Industries Limited, Manjeera Colony, Old Alwal, Secundrabad 500 010, India. (5)ASAS, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur 303 002, India. Adhatoda vasica is used in the treatment of cold, cough, chronic bronchitis, asthma, diarrhea, and dysentery. The biological activities of this species are attributed with the presence of alkaloids, triterpenoids, and flavonoids. Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation of A. vasica, produces pyrroloquinazoline alkaloids, was achieved by infecting leaf discs with strain ATCC15834. The bacterial strain infected 82.7% leaf discs and 5-7 hairy root initials were developed from the cut edges of leaf discs. In this study, seven strains of Azotobacter chroococcum and five strains of Pseudomonas putida were used for the biotization of hairy roots. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) develops symbiotic association with roots of plants and increases the growth parameters of plants. PGPR (A. chroococcum and P. putida) increased the profiles of nitrogenase and acid phosphatase enzymes, biomass, dry matter contents, anthranilate synthase activity and accumulation of pyrroloquizoline alkaloids in the biotized hairy roots. Both enzymes (nitrogenase and acid phosphatase) maintain sufficient supply of nitrogen and dissolved phosphorus to the cells of hairy roots therefore, the levels of anthranilate synthase activity and pyrroloquinazoline alkaloids are increased. Total seven pyrroloquinazoline alkaloids (vasicine, vasicinone, vasicine acetate, 2-acetyl benzyl amine, vasicinolone, deoxyvasicine and vasicol) were identified from the biotized hairy roots of A. vasica. In our study, biotization increased the profiles of pyrroloquinazoline alkaloids therefore, this strategy may be used in increasing the production of medicinally important secondary metabolites in other plant species also. Our hypothetical model demonstrates that P. putida cell surface receptors receive root exudates by attaching on hairy roots. After attachment, the bacterial strain penetrates in the biotized hairy roots. This endophytic interaction stimulates acid phosphatase activity in the cells of biotized hairy roots. The P. putida plasmid gene (ppp1) expression led to the synthesis of acid phosphatase in cytosol. The enzyme enhances phosphorus availability as well as induces the formation of phosphoribosyl diphosphate. Later, phosphoribosyl diphosphate metabolizes to tryptophan and finally tryptophan converts to anthranilic acid. The synthesized anthranilic acid used in the synthesis of alkaloids in A. vasica. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.05.011 PMID: 35691257 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 2. Life (Basel). 2022 Feb 20;12(2):315. doi: 10.3390/life12020315. Computer Aided Drug Design Approach to Screen Phytoconstituents of Adhatoda vasica as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Enzyme. Siva Kumar B(1), Anuragh S(2), Kammala AK(3), Ilango K(1). Author information: (1)Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, SRM College of Pharmacy, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, Tamil Nadu, India. (2)Department of Pharmacology, SRM College of Pharmacy, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, Tamil Nadu, India. (3)Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA. A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified as one of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2) and emerged as a pandemic in 2020. Thus, there is an urgent need to screen and develop an agent to suppress the proliferation of viral particles of SARS-CoV-2, and several drugs have entered clinical trial phases to assess their therapeutic potential. The objective of the present study is to screen phytochemicals against the main viral protease using molecular docking studies. The phytochemicals vasicine, vasicinone, vasicinolone, vasicol, vasicolinone, adhatodine, adhavasicinone, aniflorine, anisotine, vasnetine, and orientin from Adhatoda vasica were selected, and the compounds were docked with various viral protein targets, including specific SARS-CoV-2 main protease (PDBID:6Y84), using AutoDock, Schrodinger, Biovia discovery studio, and virtual screening tools. Adhatodine and vasnetine showed a better binding affinity of -9.60 KJ/mol and -8.78 KJ/mol, respectively. In molecular docking simulations for 10 ns, these compounds illustrated strong hydrogen-bonding interactions with the protein active site and induced a potential conformational change in the ligand-binding site. The results were compared with the antiviral drugs nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. These results suggest that these phytochemicals can be studied as potential inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 protease and may have an antiviral effect on coronavirus. However, further in vitro and in vivo efficacy activity needs to be investigated for these phytochemicals. DOI: 10.3390/life12020315 PMCID: PMC8877960 PMID: 35207602 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 3. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2019 Apr;44(8):1601-1606. doi: 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20190118.009. [N-containing compounds from seeds of Paganum harmala]. [Article in Chinese] Fang X(1), Yu HY(1), Han LF(1), Pang X(1). Author information: (1)Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Tianjin 300193,China. To investigate the N-containing compounds in the seeds of Paganum harmala,fourteen compounds were finally isolated from the 95% Et OH extract of P. harmala seeds by using various chromatographic techniques including silica gel,MCI resin,and ODS column chromatography as well as the semi-preparative HPLC. Depending on spectroscopic techniques and comparison with the reported data in the literatures,the structures of all compounds were identified as N-[3-(2-amino-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxopropyl]acetamide(1),dehydroharmalacidine(2),harmalacidine(3),harmine N-oxide(4),harmine(5),tetrahydroharmine(6),demethylharmalacidine(7),harmol(8),tetrahydroharmol(9),harmindol β-D-glucopyranoside(10),tryptophyl β-D-glucopyranoside(11),pegamineβ-D-glucopyranoside(12),vasicol(13) and vasicinone(14). Among them,1 was a new compound,and 2 and 10 were obtained as natural products for the first time. DOI: 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20190118.009 PMID: 31090324 [Indexed for MEDLINE]