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mitragynine

Sophora flavescens

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I have been reading a great deal lately on the topic of ethnopharmacology and have developed a strong fascination for a few plants (more so for the components thereof). A most intriguing one is Sophora flavescens, which contains an alkaloid by the name of matrine (and also oxymatrine and a bunch of others). Matrine is found to have antinociceptive activities in mice, which is in line with the traditional use of the plant in China as a pain-reliever (I think - I love the herbology of TCM but their explanations and traditions are too un-scientific for me to want to spend the time getting to understand them).

 

I am curious if anybody has any experience with Sophora or, unlikely I know but still I must ask, matrine; or if anybody has any other insights into this plant, and others like it, which I may have overlooked. For instance, it seems to be effective as an analgesic agent in mice, but I can find no evidence that it has ever been studied in humans for this activity. We are constantly bombarded with news of the "opioid epidemic" ravaging North America and the need for less addictive drugs, but it seems to me that the many viable alternatives - "viable" at least so far as testing on mice is concerned, along with its tradition of use - have been paid little to no attention.

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What about Picralima nitida? 

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