Ethnopharmacology of ska María Pastora (Salvia divinorum, Epling AND Játiva-M.)

doi:10.1016/0378-8741(83)90004-1

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 7, Issue 3, May 1983, Pages 287-312

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(83)90004-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Salvia divinorum is a perennial labiate used for curing and divination by the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. The psych otropic effects the plant produces are compared to those of the other hallucinogens employed by the Mazatecs, the morning glory, Riuea corymbosa L., Hallier f. and the psilocybin-containing mushrooms. A discussion of the role of ska María Pastora in the native “pharmacopeia” is based on previous reports and fieldwork by the authors, with a Mazatec shaman.

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Cited by (142)

Ethnomedicine and neuropsychopharmacology in Mesoamerica
2021, Journal of Ethnopharmacology
The burden of disease caused by mental and neurological disorders is increasing globally, to a disproportionate degree in Latin America. In contrast to the many psychoactive plants with a use history in Mesoamerican cultures, the translation to the wider population of knowledge around numerous botanicals used contemporarily by indigenous Mesoamerican societies to treat psychological and neurological disorders did not receive the same attention.
We used the previously published Mesoamerican Medicinal Plant Database to extract species and associated botanical drugs used as treatments for illnesses associated with the nervous system by Mesoamerican cultures in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. With the critical use of published pharmacological literature, the cross-culturally most salient genera are systematically reviewed.
From 2188 plant taxa contained in the database 1324 are used as treatments for illnesses associated with the nervous system. The ethnomedical data was critically confronted with the available biomedical literature for the 58 cross-culturally most salient genera. For a considerable proportion of the frequently used taxa, preclinical data are available, mostly validating ethnomedicinal uses.
This quantitative approach facilitates the prioritization of taxa for future pre-clinical, clinical and treatment outcome studies and gives patients, practitioners, and legislators a fundamental framework of evidence, on which to base decisions regarding phytomedicines.
Biologically active compounds from Lamiaceae family: Central nervous system effects
2021, Studies in Natural Products Chemistry
Lamiaceae, also known as the mint family, is a family of plants comprising about 245 genera and 7886 species distributed all over the world. Plants of this family are widely used in folk medicine, cosmetics, spices, and as a flavoring agents in food. With the exception of the coldest polar regions, Lamiaceae species are distributed almost throughout the world, particularly in tropical and temperate areas, including the Mediterranean region and in tropical upland savannas. The Lamiaceae family is known for a wealth of species possessing medicinal properties with a strong history of use since early times and is well known for high essential oil content, for their richness with polyphenolic compounds and terpenoids. All of these classes of compounds are of great interest due to their biological activities. A number of studies conducted on different species of Lamiaceae family and their effects on memory, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders have been reported. For example, Rosmarinus officinalis has long been known as the herb of remembrance and was proved to boost memory, reduce anxiety and depression, and improve sleep quality. Different salvia species are used to enhance memory, as a sedative and for the treatment of headaches. Evidence for the use of other Lamiaceae species on the central nervous system (CNS), such as Dracocephalum moldavica. Clerodendrum formicarum, Nepeta clarkei has also been reported. Thymol and menthol are examples of the essential oils identified in species from Lamiaceae. It has been reported that thymol and menthol both act as positive modulators on GABA_A receptors (the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian CNS acting through a number of pharmacologically and structurally different receptor subtypes). Thymol was reported to have a GABAergic activity and acts as a positive allosteric modulator with a mechanism of action similar to other depressants, such as diazepam. This review aims to survey the current literature on the effect of Lamiaceae family and its use in the treatment of CNS disorders to provide sufficient baseline information that would improve the knowledge and the application of this family as safe therapeutic alternatives.
Antinociceptive effects of Salvia divinorum and bioactive salvinorins in experimental pain models in mice
2020, Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Citation Excerpt :
The antinociceptive effect of this bioactive compound in an individual form has already been reported in the writhing test (McCurdy et al., 2006) and the formalin-induced licking behavior (Aviello et al., 2011), being significant at doses from 0.5 to 2 mg/kg, i.p., in mice. Thus, our results agree that this molecule is in great manner responsible for the activity of this medicinal plant supporting its use for alleviating pain in folk medicine (Valdés et al., 1983). Phytochemical studies of plants from salvia genus have reported the presence of phenolic acids, tannins, essential oils, flavonoids, and other terpenoids (mono, di, and triterpenes) (Wu et al., 2012).
Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva is a Mexican plant used not only in rituals but also in traditional medicine for pain relief. One of the most known bioactive compounds is salvinorin A, which acts centrally in kappa-type opioid receptors.
Despite its traditional use as a medicinal plant, there is not enough scientific investigation to reinforce its potential as analgesic. In this study, Salvia divinorum antinociceptive activity was evaluated in experimental models of nociceptive pain; the writhing test and formalin-induced licking behavior in mice.
Different Salvia divinorum extracts were prepared by maceration at room temperature in increased polarity (hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol). The ethyl acetate extract (EAEx) was chosen in order to be fractioned and to obtain a mixture of salvinorins. The antinociceptive effect of EAEx (3, 10, 30, and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) was compared with that of tramadol (a partial opioid agonist analgesic drug, 30 mg/kg, i.p.) and the mixture of salvinorins (30 mg/kg, i.p.). In addition, a participation of opioids (naloxone, NX 1 and/or 3 mg/kg, i.p.) and serotonin 5-HT_1A receptors (WAY100635, 0.32 mg/kg, i.p.) was investigated as possible inhibitory neurotransmission involved.
As a result, the EAEx produced significant and dose-dependent antinociceptive effect concerning salvinorins constituents. This effect was blocked in the presence of NX and WAY100635 in the abdominal test, but only by NX in the formalin-induced licking behavior. Whereas, the effect of salvinorins mixture involved opioids and serotonin 5-HT_1A receptors.
Data provide evidence of the potential of this species, where salvinorin A is in part responsible bioactive constituent involving participation of the opioids and/or 5-HT_1A serotonin receptors depending on the kind of pain model explored.
Biomedical analysis of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) of natural origin
2020, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis
New psychoactive substances (NPS) can be divided into two main groups: synthetic molecules and active principles of natural origin. With respect to this latter group, a wide range of alkaloids contained in plants, mainly from Asia and South America, can be included in the class of NPS of natural origin. The majority NPS of natural origin presents stimulant and/or hallucinogenic effects (e.g. Catha edulis and Ayahuasca, respectively) while few of them show sedative and relaxing properties (e.g. kratom). Few information is available in relation to the analytical identification of psychoactive principles contained in the plant material. Moreover, to our knowledge, scarce data are present in literature, about the characterization and quantification of the parent drug in biological matrices from intoxication and fatality cases. In addition, the metabolism of natural active principles has not been yet fully investigated for most of the psychoactive substances from plant material. Consequently, their identification is not frequently performed and produced metabolites are often unknown.
To fill this gap, we reviewed the currently available analytical methodologies for the identification and quantification of NPS of natural origin in plant material and, whenever possible, in conventional and non-conventional biological matrices of intoxicated and dead subjects. The psychoactive principles contained in the following plants were investigated: Areca catechu, Argyreia nervosa, Ayahuasca, Catha edulis, Ipomoea violacea, Mandragora officinarum, Mitragyna speciosa, Pausinystalia yohimbe, Piper methisticum, Psilocybe, Rivea corymbosa, Salvia divinorum, Sceletium tortuosum, Lactuca virosa.
From the results obtained, it can be evidenced that although several analytical methods for the simultaneous quantification of different molecules from the same plants have been developed and validated, a comprehensive method to detect active compounds from different natural specimens both in biological and non-biological matrices is still lacking.
Natural Products in Addiction Treatment: A Brief Survey
2018, Discovery and Development of Neuroprotective Agents from Natural Products: Natural Product Drug Discovery
Addiction is a psychiatric disorder characterized by loss of control over the consumption of psychotropic drugs despite adverse consequences. Nature has been a great source of metabolites of medicinal interest. Indeed, Nature has been a source of inspiration to scientists devoted to find pharmaceutics to treat drug addiction. Ibogaine, a natural tropane alkaloid, is one of the most natural products explored with respect to the antiaddiction properties. In this chapter, we primarily address the synthesis of ibogaine as well as its potential for the treatment of drug addiction. The antiaddiction properties of other natural products and related molecules are also discussed.
Neuropathic and inflammatory antinociceptive effects and electrocortical changes produced by Salvia divinorum in rats
2017, Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Salvia divinorum is a medicinal plant traditionally used in hallucinogenic ethnopharmacological practices and for its analgesic and antinflammatory properties. Its active compounds include diterpenes known as salvinorins which act as potent κ opioid receptor agonists.
Given its effects in acute animal models of pain, as well as its antinflammatory attributes, we decided to investigate the analgesic effects of an SD extract in neuropathic (sciatic loose nerve ligature) and inflammatory (intra plantar carrageenan) pain models in rats. We also determined in this study the electrocorticographic changes to correlate similar hallucinogenic state and behavior as those produced in humans.
Mechanical and thermonociceptive responses, plantar test and von Frey assay, respectively, were measured in adult Wistar rats 30 min, 3 h and 24 h after the intraperitoneal administration of saline or an hydroponic SD extract. We also evaluated carbamazepine and celecoxib, as gold reference drugs, to compare its antinociceptive effects.
Our results showed that administration of SD extract induced antialgesic effects in both neuropathic and inflammatory pain models. All those effects were blocked by nor-binaltorphimine (a Kappa opioid receptor antagonist). Moreover, it was observed an increase of the anterior power spectral density and a decrease in the posterior region as electrocorticographic changes.
The present investigation give evidence that SD is capable to reduce algesic response associated to neuropathic and inflammatory nociception. This study support therapeutic alternatives for a disabling health problem due to the long term pain with high impact on population and personal and social implications.

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Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Abstract

References (37)

Identification of ergoline alkaloids in the genus Argyreia and related genera and their chemotaxonomic implications in the Convol-vulaceae

Phytochemistry

Drugs and Food from Little-Known Plants

The Knightes Tale

La medicina tradicional en la Sierra Mazateca

Etnofarmacología de algunos psicotrópicos vegetales de México

Índice y Sinonima de las Plantas Medicinales de México

Usos de las Plantas Medicinales de Mexico

Ethnopharmacology and taxonomy of Mexican psychodysleptic plants

Journal of Psychedelic Drugs

Narcotic Plants

Narcotic Plants

A new species of Salvia from Mexico

Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University

Vida de María Sabina

Maria Sabina, her Life and Chants

Salvia divinorum herbarium sheets, A. Gómez Pompa 87556 and 93216

A Modern Herbal

The Hallucinogens

Mexicanische Zauberdrogen und ihre Wirkstoffe

Planta Medica

LSD: My Problem Child

Relates del Mundo Mágico Mazateco

Cited by (142)

Ethnomedicine and neuropsychopharmacology in Mesoamerica

Biologically active compounds from Lamiaceae family: Central nervous system effects

Antinociceptive effects of Salvia divinorum and bioactive salvinorins in experimental pain models in mice

Biomedical analysis of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) of natural origin

Natural Products in Addiction Treatment: A Brief Survey

Neuropathic and inflammatory antinociceptive effects and electrocortical changes produced by Salvia divinorum in rats