Yeti101

Apocynum venetum http://0-www.thieme-connect.com.library.ne.../s-2008-1075172 Planta Med 2008; 74 DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1075172 Anxiolytic Activity of Apocynum venetum L. and its Proposed Mechanism of Action O Grundmann1, J Nakajima2, V Butterweck1 1 College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics,University of Florida, FL, 32610, USA 2 Tokiwa Phytochemical Co., Chiba 285–0801, Japan Apocynum venetum (AV, Apocynaceae) is a wild shrub native to parts of northern Asia and the Mediterranean region. A leaf extract from AV has been shown to possess various beneficial effects including antidepressant and anxiolytic activities [1]. This study evaluated further the anxiolytic-like activity of five fractions (A, B, C, D, and E) prepared from an ethanolic AV leaf extract using the elevated plus-maze (EPM) test in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were either treated orally with AV extract and fractions or diazepam and buspirone as positive control 1 hour before behavioral evaluation in the EPM. A single treatment of AV extract markedly increased the percentage time spent on the open arms of the EPM in doses of 30 mg/kg p.o. and 125 mg/kg p.o., indicating an anxiolytic-like activity. These anxiolytic-like effects were partially antagonized by the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil (3 mg/kg i.p.) and the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 (0.5 mg/kg i.p.). Active fractions of AV according to 30 (fractions C, D, and E) and 125 (fractions A, C, and E) mg/kg of whole extract were also antagonized using flumazenil and WAY-100635. While flumazenil blocked the anxiolytic action of the fractions in a dose equivalent to 125 mg/kg whole extract, WAY-100635 antangonized the fractions according to 30 mg/kg of AV extract. In conclusion, these results indicate that the anxiolytic activity of an AV extract acts via both the GABA (in 125 mg/kg) and serotonin (in 30 mg/kg) receptor systems in a dose dependent manner. References: [1] Grundmann O, et al. (2007)J Ethnopharmacol. 110(3): 406–11. Salvia cinnabarina http://0-www.thieme-connect.com.library.ne...5/s-2004-818954 A New Diterpenoid with Antispasmodic Activity from Salvia cinnabarina From the leaf surface exudate of the aerial parts of Salvia cinnabarina a new secoisopimarane diterpenoid with a non-specific spasmolytic activity on histamine-, acetylcholine-, and barium chloride-induced contractions in the isolated guinea-pig ileum was obtained. The IC50 value obtained was comparable with that obtained for papaverine. The structure of 3,4-secoisopimara-4(18),7,15-triene-3-oic acid was established by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques. Egletes viscosa http://0-www.thieme-connect.com.library.ne...5/s-2006-931564 http://rain-tree.com/macela.htm 12-Acetoxyhawtriwaic Acid Lactone, a Diterpene from Egletes viscosa, Attenuates Capsaicin-Induced Ear Edema and Hindpaw Nociception in Mice: Possible Mechanisms Caroline M. Melo1, Juliana L. Maia1, Ítalo J. M. Cavalcante1, Mary Anne S. Lima2, Gizelle Angela B. Vieira2, Edilberto R. Silveira2, Vietla S. N. Rao1, Flávia A. Santos1 1 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil 2 Department of Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Federal University Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil Abstract The diterpene, 12-acetoxyhawtriwaic acid lactone (AHAL, tanabalin) isolated from the flower buds of Egletes viscosa Less. (Asteraceae) was evaluated on capsaicin-induced ear edema and hindpaw nociception in mice. AHAL (12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg, p. o.) significantly attenuated the ear edema response to topically applied capsaicin (250 μg), in a dose-related manner. At similar doses, AHAL also suppressed the nocifensive paw-licking behavior induced by intraplantar injection of capsaicin (1.6 μg). These responses to capsaicin were also greatly inhibited by ruthenium red (3 mg/kg, s. c.), a non-competitive capsaicin receptor (TRPV1) antagonist. The anti-edema effect of http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...id=542&st=0 The Corroboree -> Edit entry Yeti101's BlogAHAL (50 mg/kg) seems unrelated to either blockade of mast cell degranulation or to histamine and serotonin receptor antagonism since AHAL did not modify the paw edema response induced by intraplantar injections of compound 48/80, histamine or serotonin. However, the hindpaw edema induced by substance P and vascular permeability increase induced by intraperitoneal acetic acid were significantly suppressed by AHAL. The antinociceptive effect of AHAL (50 mg/kg) was unaffected by naloxone pretreatment but was significantly antagonized by theophylline and glibenclamide, the respective blockers of adenosine and KATP-channels. AHAL (50 mg/kg, p. o.) did not impair the ambulation or motor coordination of mice in open-field and rota-rod tests. These data suggest that AHAL inhibits acute neurogenic inflammation possibly involving capsaicin-sensitive TRPV1-receptors, endogenous adenosine and ATP-sensitive potassium channels. Perovskia Tetracyclic diterpenes(?) http://0-www.thieme-connect.com.library.ne...5/s-2006-951766 KT botanicals has Perovskia atriplicifolia listed as potentially interesting - roots apparently has similar phytochems as Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Aptenia cordifolia shouldn't be too hard to get hold of in Aus. I have a decent sized plant and can break a bit off if anyone is desperate for a small amount.

Thanks everyone, there's plenty for me to think about. I already get plenty of exercise and eat pretty well. I think the point about making things worse is a good one and I'll keep it in mind. And yes, I should see a MD about this at some stage, even though I'm sure he will just tell me to go home and buy more woolen socks.

Tried out my latest successful Kanna type thing. Equal portions of Sceletium tortuosum (mostly stemmy material), D cooperi (probably) and Aptenia cordifolia (leaves, stems and roots) were fermented in plastic bag in a warm place for about 7 days. After drying in the sun for some time, the process was finished by a quick roast in the oven at 150 C to ensure dryness & to get rid of any remaining oxalates. Inhaled a lot of the dust that came off when powdering/crushing. Ate a bit of stem (pleaseant nutty/toasty taste). Very strong buzz, much stronger than any sceletium only kanna I made previously. No heavyness in the limbs, quite a pronounced adrenalin like feeling. Pulse didn't rush, but I felt the air was really getting into my lungs. This is of course not very conclusive by itself as my scelly is very stressed and this could explain the result. I will make preps of each individually over the next few weeks to see what comes out on top.

I don't know how good this information is, and both pages are about growth rather than phyto-chemical yield... Assorted 'electro-culture' stuff: http://blog.lege.net/content/StimulatingPl...etismSound.html Pre-treating seeds: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2000/03...es/08300009.htm From what I've read you'd be better with the negative clip on the top, and the positive in the soil.

Well you could do that, it's just that we can't (legally) buy GABA in NSW any more

I am looking for something to treat poor peripheral circulation. Basically as soon as the temperature drops below 17 C I start to go white & blue around the edges and get 'dead' fingers & toes. I think it's some sort of inherited thing as many of my direct family have similar problems, though I have noticed that it is better since I gave up the cig's. Either way I need something that might help the blood to get where it's supposed to be going. I tried Ginko some years back, but it made me feel weird, so something other than that would be good.

Water-dragon/Lizard Tail - Saururus cernuus http://www.entheogen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17325

Have you investigated a natural source of GABA such as Sutherlandia frutescens? http://www.sutherlandia.org/chemistry.html

Post-grad philosophy at the uni of Newcastle. I'm working on Phil of Language stuff right now, with cross over into Phil of Mind and Metaphysics. I've had a go at pretty much every branch at one time or other. Unfortunately I work as well and I don't have anything applicable on the in the works right now. So I'd have to start form scratch and I just don't know if I'd get it done in time. But I'm tempted to give it a go and worry about the rejection or financial burden if and when they happen.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I've seen it at my local Big W. But do you think they have it when I want one? <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_ana.gif My use of the word 'secure' was a symptom of over-excitment, which makes me prone to over-dramatic turns of phrase. I admit it might not turn out to be anything spectacular. Surely we can't have another potent plant under our noses, can we? The traditional users did discontinue its use as a sacrament once they dicovered Psychotria sp, but we don't know why (or even if it's true). Toxicity, potency or something else? What little there is on it seems to rule out toxicity. So we will have to wait and see.

Yeah that sucks. If I could get a decent paper together, I might have a shot at scoring some money to cover the fares - not that it would help, because i'd still have to find the cash for hotels, ouzo binges, etc.

I don't remember posting this twice <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_scratchhead.gif . Sorry, I should pay more attention to the error messages. If someone can delete the repetition that would be good.

I wish I could get my Uni to fund my travel expenses for this one.... =================================================== Conference on Hallucination 11-14 September 2008 Crete Interdisciplinary Philosophy/Psychology Conference on Hallucination organised by: Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience, Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow and Department of Philosophy and Social Studies, and the Brain and Mind Graduate Programme, University of Crete. The traditional problem of hallucination in the philosophy of perception and epistemology has always attracted attention. However, over the last few years, neuroimaging techniques and scientific findings on the nature of delusion, together with the upsurge of interest in new theories of perception in philosophy, such as representationalism and disjunctivism, have brought the topic of hallucination to the forefront of philosophical thinking. The importance of the phenomenon of hallucination is such that it deserves extensive treatment; it has a direct impact on a wide range of issues in the philosophy of perception and epistemology, including: * the question of whether we directly see the world * the nature of perception and perceptual experience more generally * the nature of our knowledge of our own mental states * the nature of our knowledge of the external world * questions about what we can learn about the mind, and the nature of hallucination, from empirical results in psychology and brain science. The conference will bring together philosophers and psychologists to debate and discuss these topics. Invited Speakers: Richard P. Bentall (Psychology, Bangor) Alex Byrne (Philosophy, MIT) Tim Crane (Philosophy, University College London) Katalin Farkas (Philosophy, Central European University) C. P. Fernyhough (Psychology, Durham) Dominic H ffytche (Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London) Matthew Nudds (Philosophy, Edinburgh) Howard Robinson (Philosophy, Central European University) Susanna Schellenberg (Philosophy, Australian National University) Brad Thompson (Philosophy, Southern Methodist University) Call for Papers We invite papers by philosophers and psychologists and cognate disciplines, accessible to an interdisciplinary audience, on the topic of hallucination. Papers should be suitable for presentation in no more than 45 minutes. Papers should be original and unpublished and authors should be willing to submit their papers for consideration for inclusion in an edited volume arising from the conference. The papers will be chosen by the organizers on the basis of abstracts of between 500 - 1000 words. ==================================================== More information here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/philosoph...inationoncrete/

I wish I could get my Uni to fund my travel expenses for this one.... =================================================== Conference on Hallucination 11-14 September 2008 Crete Interdisciplinary Philosophy/Psychology Conference on Hallucination organised by: Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience, Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow and Department of Philosophy and Social Studies, and the Brain and Mind Graduate Programme, University of Crete. The traditional problem of hallucination in the philosophy of perception and epistemology has always attracted attention. However, over the last few years, neuroimaging techniques and scientific findings on the nature of delusion, together with the upsurge of interest in new theories of perception in philosophy, such as representationalism and disjunctivism, have brought the topic of hallucination to the forefront of philosophical thinking. The importance of the phenomenon of hallucination is such that it deserves extensive treatment; it has a direct impact on a wide range of issues in the philosophy of perception and epistemology, including: * the question of whether we directly see the world * the nature of perception and perceptual experience more generally * the nature of our knowledge of our own mental states * the nature of our knowledge of the external world * questions about what we can learn about the mind, and the nature of hallucination, from empirical results in psychology and brain science. The conference will bring together philosophers and psychologists to debate and discuss these topics. Invited Speakers: Richard P. Bentall (Psychology, Bangor) Alex Byrne (Philosophy, MIT) Tim Crane (Philosophy, University College London) Katalin Farkas (Philosophy, Central European University) C. P. Fernyhough (Psychology, Durham) Dominic H ffytche (Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London) Matthew Nudds (Philosophy, Edinburgh) Howard Robinson (Philosophy, Central European University) Susanna Schellenberg (Philosophy, Australian National University) Brad Thompson (Philosophy, Southern Methodist University) Call for Papers We invite papers by philosophers and psychologists and cognate disciplines, accessible to an interdisciplinary audience, on the topic of hallucination. Papers should be suitable for presentation in no more than 45 minutes. Papers should be original and unpublished and authors should be willing to submit their papers for consideration for inclusion in an edited volume arising from the conference. The papers will be chosen by the organizers on the basis of abstracts of between 500 - 1000 words. ==================================================== More information here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/philosoph...inationoncrete/

Presumably it's because the plants are are really big <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_drool2.gif

Just read the infamous 'Red Tar' thread on Edot. I have to get my hands on some of this.

Haves Note - I've just moved, so some of this stuff I have less available than usual, and it might take me longer to get my act together than I'd like. Seeds: M.G. Heavenly Blue - have plenty of these Hemia salicifolia (and who doesn't?) Shitloads! The rest I only have a small amount of each: Delosperma bosseranum Salvia splendens Withania somniferum L.williamsii T. spach cuts - about 48cm tip and 40cm (I think) center cuts, some scarring and sunburn. Other stuff I'll have for trade in spring will (hopefully) include: Artemnisia verlotiorum plantlets D.bosseranum plants Sceletium tortuosum plants/cuttings Salvia elegans - Pinapple Sage Salvia involucrata (?) Erythrina sp seeds and plant material Plants/cuttings: Bramhi Aptenia cordifolia Wants Fittonia sp especial albivenis or verschaffeltii Geogenanthus sp M.hostilis Any Cacti!

I was thinking about the ions that migrate towards electrodes in solution. Two thoughts occur to me: 1. Will wiring a plant up with the anode on the aerial parts and the cathode in the soil cause an increased amount of negative ions to migrate out of the soil and into (and up) the plant? (Or the other way around if I have this arse-backwards, I haven't done any physics/electronics for years). If this is the case, then the direction of the current would be an important factor and should produce different results if varied, something that could be put to good use. There should be existing research on this and I'll post links as I find them. 2. If you run current through a solution (aqueous obviously) of an alkaloid salt, will the positive ions, in this case the alkaloid, migrate to the cathode? I think they would. If it forms crystals in its freebase form, then it should literally grow on that electrode! Of course in a dirty solution there would be all sorts of other crud attracted. I don't expect that you can throw a couple of wires into some pedro tea and pull them out with glistening crystals attached a few hours later. But I do wonder if it is worth a try. Surely this is something other people have tried before?

Depends on what the exact mechanism is for actives being created on/in the flowers. Are precursors created in other parts of the plant and then transported to the flowers? And does an increased level of these precursors lead to increased production of actives? If the answer to these two questions is 'yes' then you won't have to wire the buds - which would be good, because that sounds really fiddly. My gut feeling however is that you would get better results applying the current where the actives (and not their precursors) are created, but I have no evidence for that. Still the respective hypotheses are easy enough to yest. Multiple plants (or sets of plants) one lot with wired flowers, others with wired roots or stems etc and one non-wired control group. Zap, test and evaluate. Sounds like a fun project. For wiring aerial parts, I think columnar cacti will be good candidates. Poor cacti, they thought they'd seen the worst with the dopamine injections, but little did they know! Personally I'd like to have a go at cultivating an electric M.hostilis or similar. Ride the Electric Mimosa!

I'll probably get one just for the flowers - great looking plant.

Oops, don't know how I missed that. There's even a graph: http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/bi...3329f00003.html But the rate of growth recovers after 6 days. Looking at this again (especially the graphs and Table 1.), my mind still boggles at the possibility that we could even half recreate these results.

<___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_tongue.png Not all application of electricity is unpleaseant....

I gathered from the article that it didn't slow the growth. But experiments using pulsed (AC I suppose) currents on plant cell cultures have had an effect on their growth. Can't remember the reference. I agree that if it worked on fungi there could be spectacular (and disastrous) results. But I'm going to focus on a few select vascular plants, once I figure out the resistance of potting mix etc. Combining this with other factors known to increase alkaloid production, like zeatin ( http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/inde...showtopic=16787 ) could lead to literally mind-blowing yields. I was thinking last night about ion migration when using DC current. Could the application of current to a plant, eg +ve on the roots and -ve on the top cause a change in the distribution of alkaloids? Could this be used to force the plant to suck up more of whatever ionic solution introduced into the growth media? Not that this would happen as the experiment in the article is set up. Certainly 2 electrodes in soil would attract salts etc. (is this paragraph a red herring? I think so - feel free to ignore it <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_blush.png ).

No idea. There isn't much research that I can find on it (yet) . However this paper and the associated pages make me think that it is very promising: http://manu.montana.com/paper.html - Headache Treatments By Native Peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon: A Preliminary Cross-Disciplinary Assessment by E.B Russo. This page is also worth a read: http://manu.montana.com/plants.html (Has anyone else read these?) If what he says is true and it's active on serotonin receptors (1A & 2A!!), then it's quite promising. We should secure this ASAP.