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apothecary

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Posts posted by apothecary

  1. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    Just found this while looking for another paper:

    Secondary Metabolites from Three Florida Sponges with Antidepressant Activity

    Anna J. Kochanowska†, Karumanchi V. Rao†, Suzanne Childress‡, Abir El-Alfy‡, Rae R. Matsumoto‡, Michelle Kelly§, Gina S. Stewart, Kenneth J. Sufka‡ and Mark T. Hamann*†‡

    Departments of Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology, and Psychology and the National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677, and the National Center for Aquatic Biodiversity and Biosecurity, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Auckland, New Zealand

    Brominated indole alkaloids are a common class of metabolites reported from sponges of the order Verongida. Herein we report the isolation, structure determination, and activity of metabolites from three Florida sponges, namely, Verongula rigida (order Verongida, family Aplysinidae), Smenospongia aurea, and S. cerebriformis (order Dictyoceratida, family Thorectidae). All three species were investigated chemically, revealing similarities in secondary metabolites. Brominated compounds, as well as sesquiterpene quinones and hydroquinones, were identified from both V. rigida and S. aurea despite their apparent taxonomic differences at the ordinal level. Similar metabolites found in these distinct sponge species of two different genera provide evidence for a microbial origin of the metabolites. Isolated compounds were evaluated in the Porsolt forced swim test (FST) and the chick anxiety−depression continuum model. Among the isolated compounds, 5,6-dibromo-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (1) exhibited significant antidepressant-like action in the rodent FST model, while 5-bromo-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (2) caused significant reduction of locomotor activity indicative of a potential sedative action. The current study provides ample evidence that marine natural products with the diversity of brominated marine alkaloids will provide potential leads for antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs.

    EDIT: Forgot to mention, there are already 3 or 4 threads on the topic of psychoactive marine life but since this is specifically on aquatic plants it could be a good place for a new thread on the topic.

    PS: anyone wanting to read the above paper in full can search for the species name listed above in this forum, the paper has been uploaded by an old member ;)

  2. Posted

    sometimes it's just grabbing at straws. Some people wish to use even the smallest difference as a means to split one species into several, while others want to clump many into one. At the end of the day, the idea of a species is a human concept and can be pretty arbitrary.

    Hehe I dunno if you caught Michael Bocks talk at the mini EGA or not, but from my understanding, the "splitters" are about to have a field day with the genus Psilocybe.

  6. Posted

    It's interesting that the Native Americans only companion plants pole beans. It's probably a good example of a decent companion plant.

    Sorry, I must have mistyped that you misinterpreted me. What I meant was each tribe only companion plants one sort of bean with their corn even though they grow other beans. It does differ between tribes largely depending on the locale.

  7. Posted

    Just because one N-fixing plant makes for a good companion plant does not mean all of them do. It's like saying that because some Acacias contain DMT, all of them do, while the reality is probably that they are a vast minorty.

    Is there any evidence to suggest that Native Americans planted those two together because beans are a nitrogen-fixer? Corn is often planted alongside beans as it gives something for the beans to climb up.

    Alright, I'm really not sure what we are arguing about? I never claimed all nitrogen fixing plants are good companion plants? Just provided an observation that my caapi plants were happier near NFT than away from them.

    Why would a nitrogen fixing tree would need to be mulched to release nitrogen into the soil? Bacteria don't live forever and I have observed many times nodules to recede, vanish, move etc especially on Mimosa in Winter. I remember fertilising my caapi precisely once in 3 years and yet it was a huge green machine.

    As for your request for me to provide evidence of a biological phenom as proof of reasoning for a millennia old agriculture technique, don't you think that's a bit much? I do know many Native American tribes grew more than one kind of climbing bean, but generally only companion planted one kind, so the pole shape of the corn is obviously not the only reason.

  8. Posted

    I see no reason why that would actually help the B. caapi. Nitrogen-fixing plants fix nitrogen for their own benefit, not the benefit of the surrounding plants. Only if the N-fixing plants are killed and then mulched back into the soil is the nitrogen of any use to surrounding plants. So unless you were periodically killing your Acacias and Mimosas, or chopping off their root nodules, the benefit would not have come from the ability of those plants to fix nitrogen.

    Err right, so Native Americans have been planting pole beans and corn directly next to each other for absolutely no reason since prehistory.

  9. Posted

    I haven't yet checked the usual sources for alkaloid information, but wouldn't be surprised if it showed positive.

    Confirm your suspicions, see Trouts notes on Desmodium genus page 13:

    http://trout.yage.net/sc/D2_2004_Trout.pdf

    All tryptamine references above are from Ghosal, take of that what you will.

    Not sure the plant is really dancing, it might just appear that way:

    This plant is famous for its movement of small lateral leaflets at speeds rapid enough to be perceivable with the naked eye. This is a strategy to maximise sunlight by tracking the sun. Each leaf is equipped with a hinge that permits it to be moved in order to receive more sunlight, but the weight of these leaves means the plant must expend a lot of energy in moving it. To optimise movement of large leaves, each large leaf has two small leaflets at its base. These move constantly along an elliptical path, sampling the intensity of sunlight, and directing the large leaf to the area of most intensity.

    From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codariocalyx_motorius

    Codariocalyx motorius is the currently accepted binomial name for this plant.

  12. Posted

    Alrighty, I'm taking the plunge...

    I have a few mandrake seeds of several species, and I am keen to give them the best possible start in germinating.

    So, the first question is whether attempting to tickle them now is a good idea at this time of year, even in southern Australia? My concern is that waiting for a more traditional season might simply affect their chances of coming up at all... and no, unfortunately I do not know the age of my seeds, although they look lovely and plump.

    Second, what cold stratification method have other folk used? I'm tempted to do a couple of weeks of coldwater soaking, with daily changes, followed by planting in just-moist jiffies kept in the 'fridge for another month or so, or until germination starts, whichever occurs first. Thoughts?

    Once any little buggers are up I am more confident that I can nurse them, with the proviso that they could handle being born in an austal summer.

    Any thoughts at all will be gratefully received...

    Hi WoodDragon, from my own experiences you might be starting too early, best to wait for the end of Summer as I always had trouble keeping them from going into dormancy during hot Sydney summers. If you can get them up and running into the tail of Summer by the end of the next Winter they will have nice established roots which will allow them to go into and revive from dormancy for many years to come!

    tantra, I heard some Mandragora take up to 7 years before they will set fruit! No personal experience, but as far as I know since the Solanales are generally self-fertile you should be able to hand pollinate?

  13. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    Interesting thoughts in the original post tantra.

    Several species of Calea seem to contain sesquiterpene lactones (same class of lactones as found in kava) and there is reported use as anti-inflammatory:

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=A...fe2af8f9e497274

    (Click above to obtain full text PDF)

    Sesquiterpene lactones of Calea zacatechichi and C. urticifolia*1

    Werner Herz and Narendra Kumar

    Department of Chemistry, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, U.S.A.

    Calea zacatechichi yielded the sesquiterpene lactone zexbrevin and a new analog, several analogs of neurolenin B including calein A, two analogs of budlein A and the flavones acacetin and O-methylacacetin. Calea urticifolia contained additional analogs of neurolenin B as well as a series of epoxidation products. Structures were established by spectrometric techniques. The results are contrasted with previous findings.

    These have obviously not been tested directly for analgesia yet!

    But check out this paper also:

    http://www.medicine.nevada.edu/wps/wpsjour...mmatoryActi.pdf

    Antiinflammatory Activity of the Aqueous Extract of Calea zacatechichi

    H. VENEGAS-FLORES, D. SEGURA-COBOS & B. VÁZQUEZ-CRUZ*

    Laboratorio de Farmacología, División de Investigación y Postgrado Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma

    de México, Avenida de los Barrios s/n, Los Reyes Iztacala, Tlalnepantla, México C.P. 54090, México

    The inflammatory process involves many biochemical

    pathways and a variety of mediators [1-5]. Anti-

    inflammatory drugs presently available for the treatment

    of various inflammatory disorders, have one or more ad-

    verse and undesirable side-effects [5,6]. In recent years,

    active principles of varied chemical structures have been

    isolated from plants possessing anti-inflammatory activ-

    ity. Calea zacatechichi Schlecht (Compositae/Asteraceae)

    grows in fields in southern Mexican and several other

    countries. It is used in the folk medicine of Mexico for

    many medical purposes, especially as treatment of various

    inflammatory diseases: rheumatism, edema and respira-

    tory pathway disorders. Different parts of the plant have

    been administered when the extremities are cold during

    fever and for pains in the legs and arms [7]. We only

    found a single reference related to anti-inflammatory ef-

    fects for this plant [8]. Therefore, the aim of this study

    was to evaluate whether the aqueous extract of Calea

    zacatechichi showed anti-inflammatory activity.

    Statistical analysis. Significancy of the differences was assessed

    by Student’s t-test for unpaired samples and values of p

    considered significant.

    As usual tantra, you seem to be beating the science by a few years, so we will have to wait for the paper to confirm your findings :P

    EDIT: To add links.

  14. Posted

    incognito can you comment on how you feel now after continued use? I am very interested in these herbs again after hearing that Kilindi guy talk at EGA. This is really a great thread, there is traditional use info, ingestion and cultivation ancedotes, etc. Might hit you up with an order on payday, T.

  15. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    Well there doesn't appear to be a Dinosperma thread anywhere so I will add info for Dinosperma here.

    http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/NSTLQK_NSTL_QK6120674.aspx

    Analysis/Composition-The Leaf Oils of Dinosperma erythrococca and D. stipitata (Rutaceae)

    JJ Brophy, RJ Goldsack, PI Forster - Journal of Essential Oil Research, 2002 - Wheaton, IL: Allured Pub. Corp., c1989-

    The composition of the leaf oils of Dinosperma erythrococca showed it to be variable across its range. Several forms were found in which the principal components were: (1) gerany acetate (80%); (2)(E)-beta-ocimene (3-28%), geranyl acetate (2-32%), linalool (2-10%), beta-caryophyllene (7-11%), bicyclogermacrene (2-10%) and spathulenol (1-10%); (3) spathulenol (30%), (4)both furanoid linalool oxides (5-8% total), (E)-beta-ocimene (13%) and beta-elemene (36.4%); (5) myrcene (13.3%), limonene (26.3%) and (E)-beta-ocimene (18.5%). The leaf oils of D.stipitata were sesquiterpenoid in nature. One collections showed bicyclogermacrene (22-32%), germacrene B(11-12%) as major components. together with evodionol methyl ether (11.5%) and (E)-methyl isoeugenol (6-11%); a second collection contained no aromatic compounds and contained an unidentified hydrocarbon C_(15)H_(24) (9-26%), bicyclogermacrene (7-16%) and beta-elemene (7-9%) as major components. A collection of D. melanophloia was found to contain methyl chavicol (59%) and (E)-methyl isoeugenol (15%) as principal

    http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/np9705569

    Novel and Insecticidal Isobutylamides from Dinosperma erythrococca

    Zahid Latif,† Thomas G. Hartley,‡ Martin J. Rice,§ Roger D. Waigh, and Peter G. Waterman*

    Phytochemistry Research Laboratories, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, George St., Glasgow G1 1XW, Scotland, U.K.

    Through insecticidal bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation, five isobutylamides 1−5 were isolated from n-hexane and EtOAc extracts of the aerial parts of Dinosperma erythrococca (Rutaceae). The structures of compounds 1−5 were established through 1D and 2D NMR. Compounds 1−3 were identified as erythrococcamides A−C and represent two novel classes of isobutylamide. Compounds 4−5 were identified as N-(2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl)-6-phenyl-2(E),4(E)-hexadienamide (4)1,2 and N-(2-methylpropyl)-6-phenyl-2(E),4(E)-hexadienamide (5),1,3 respectively. Compound 1 showed lethal activity against the housefly (Musca domestica) (kill EC50 = 20.2 ppm) and the tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens) (kill EC50 = 74.2 ppm). Compound 4 showed lethal activity against H. virescens at 500 ppm, while compound 5 showed lethal activity against M. domestica at 500 ppm.

    However lofty86, aren't you actually talking about/looking for the plant Acmella oleracea (old synonym which most know it by as Spilanthes acmella) which more often holds the common name of Tingle Tongue/Tooth-ache plant? That is the issue with common names so we should stick to binomials (although in this case both plants seem to share some isobutylamides I would still stick to Acmella).

    http://www.ijp-online.com/article.asp?issn...kraborty;type=0

    Preliminary studies on antiinflammatory and analgesic activities of Spilanthes acmella in experimental animal models

    A Chakraborty, R KB Devi, S Rita, Kh Sharatchandra, Th I Singh

    Department of Pharmacology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Lamphelpat, Imphal - 795 004, India

    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the antiinflammatory and analgesic activities of the aqueous extract of Spilanthes acmella (SPA) in experimental animal models. MATERIAL AND METHODS: SPA was evaluated for antiinflammatory action by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The analgesic activity was tested by acetic acid-induced writhing response in albino mice and tail flick method in albino rats. RESULTS: The aqueous extract of SPA in doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg showed 52.6, 54.4 and 56.1% inhibition of paw edema respectively at the end of three hours and the percentage of protection from writhing was 46.9, 51.0 and 65.6 respectively. In the tail flick model, the aqueous extract of SPA in the above doses increased the pain threshold significantly after 30 min, 1, 2 and 4 h of administration. SPA showed dose-dependent action in all the experimental models. CONCLUSION: The present study indicates that SPA has significant antiinflammatory and analgesic properties.

    Which will definitely help with your tooth-ache (that's actually why they call Acemella the tooth-ache plant).

    EDIT: To add link for above paper

  16. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    I think there is still lots of research to do on companion planting of ethnos! It is a very interesting area.

    How did people realise that borage and strawberries like to be planted together? Or peas and corn? Had some great discussions with various people at EGA about their companion planting efforts. Here is a list of some example food companion plants

    http://www.companionplanting.net/ListofCompanionPlants.html

    It would be great if we could compile a similar list for ethnos! For example when living in Sydney I discovered my very hungry B. caapi plants loved living near nitrogen fixing Fabacea like certain Mimosa and Acacia species!

    I will add an obvious one: just love to get some old pots, stab some extra big holes in them, fill with sandy soil and plant in sections of Acorus and Bacopa and then stick in a big water filled tub! Nothing better than chewing a fresh bit of Bacopa on the way to work in the morning!

  17. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    I would consider this plant as medicinally interchangeable with other Salvia species.

    From the Zapotec ethnobotany page:

    guìzh-mîrt (Salvia microphylla, mirto) used in concert with a variety of other mostly introduced herbs to treat “cold” conditions, particularly post-partum hemorrhaging

    EDIT: Forgot link: http://faculty.washington.edu/hunn/zapotec/z2.html

    EDIT2: Also mentioned in this paper but not with any usage data. http://www.scielo.br/pdf/aabc/v81n4/08.pdf Common name in Brazil: melhoral, googling this name with some poor translations indicate some possible use as abortifacient.

  18. Posted

    Sieberts original paper is available for free: http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/93/6/763 makes it plainly obvious that salvinorins are present in the fresh leaves (largely contained on the trichomes) at all 6 stages of growth. From my own research, I understand that the majority of traditional preparation took place using a wetted metate as T mentioned, with the resulting "juice" being consumed sublingually.

    Not too many people came to see T Munros talk at EGA, to me it was one of the best, we had a real live Salvia researcher in our midst and everyone was off busy telling each other "how it really is", much like this thread.

    and, about the main topic, ok, I haven't tried quid, and now I am challenged to try to quid on my material. It's valid no? not doing it first thing tomorow, just offering to do the experiment... Oh, and , I have strong opinions because I usually have formed them myself, usually first having everything questioned and challenged, then forming own opinions.... the punk way, the be yourself thing.

    Perhaps in the future instead of getting drunk and running amok on threads where you haven't bothered to check your facts or even provide your own experience we could all go for a bit of scientific rigor and actual content contribution? If you don't understand what I mean I suggest going back and reading this thread from the beginning.

  20. Posted

    Great memories of crowding around in the dark on the Saturday night at EGA to peer over this tome.

    Asked Snu at EGA and he confirmed the reason I found it so great, he has actually gone back to all the original sources. No more references of references. If there is a claim the paper that makes it is referenced. Pretty much looks like all the claims are covered too :P

    There's dedication to the cause, then there's dedication to the cause!

  22. Posted · Edited by apothecary

    I've been dead so long I must be a freakin' zombie. But I'm back!

    I last logged in Sep 3 2007, 06:27 PM, and it's been way too long. Good to see the SABots are still going strong.

    Wut wut was just thinkin about you and that day in the mountains just the other day bro!~ :wub:

  23. Posted

    Big ups to EGA as usual. Nice to see the back of my head in that photo with another loverly forum member :)

    Sad to see not many Melb crew were out to support the mini EGA that happened on Sat, because I really enjoyed it! I missed some of the evening EGA talks due to volunteer commitments so it was a great opportunity to catch up on those, especially Robert Jesses talk.

    Bear was great and all, but it was nice to see real science happening and being reported to the comers. Some in the crowd obviously couldn't take it in, which I was really surprised about. To me it was very strange on numerous occasions to hear people in the crowd expressing narrow minded viewpoints against presented science.

    As others have mentioned the vibe was vastly different from last year or the year prior, it really seemed that everyone had "grown up" (for want of a better term) so the whole affair was chilled, smiling and happy sort of thing.

    Perfect, just bloody perfect :)

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