Topics in current chemistry
2011
Kimberly M Lovell, Katherine M Prevatt-Smith, Anthony Lozama et al.
17 citations
Salvinorin A is a neoclerodane diterpene that has been shown to be an agonist at kappa opioid receptors. Its unique structure makes it an attractive target for synthetic organic chemists due to its seven chiral centers and diterpene scaffold. This molecule is also interesting to pharmacologists because it is a non-serotonergic hallucinogen, and the first opioid ligand discovered that lacks a...
British Journal of Pharmacology
December 30, 2010
Susan Schenk, David Gittings, Joyce Colussi‐mas
61 citations
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Animal models of drug‐seeking suggest that exposure to cues associated with self‐administered drugs and drug primes might precipitate relapse via activation of central dopaminergic substrates. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH The effects of priming injections of dopamine and 5‐HT agonists on drug‐seeking and effects of dopamine antagonists on methylenedioxymethamphetamine...
NeuroQuantology
November 11, 2010
D. Comings
4 citations
Spirituality is defined as a sense of being connected with something greater than oneself. That something can be a supernatural entity, nature, a social group or a family. Different studies show that a wide range of factors that influence temporal lobe function can produce hallucinations, paranormal, spiritual, mystical, and religious experiences. These factors include the electrical...
Synapse
October 8, 2010
Charles V. Vorhees, Elizabeth He, Matthew R. Skelton et al.
(+)‐Methamphetamine (MA), (±)‐3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), (+)‐amphetamine (AMPH), and (±)‐fenfluramine (FEN) are phenylethylamines with CNS effects. At higher doses, each induces protracted reductions in brain dopamine (DA) and/or serotonin. Chronic MA and MDMA users show persistent monoamine reductions and cognitive impairments. In rats, similar neurochemical effects can be...
Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan yi zhi
October 2010
Chien-Hui Liou, Chang-Wei Hsieh, Chao-Hsien Hsieh et al.
Some research has shown that melatonin levels increase after meditation practices, but other research has shown that they do not. In our previous functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we found positive activation of the pineal body during Chinese Original Quiet Sitting (COQS). To find other supporting evidence for pineal activation, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of...
Current Drug Metabolism
October 1, 2010
Hong-Wu Shen, Xi-Ling Jiang, Jerrold C Winter et al.
171 citations
5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) belongs to a group of naturally-occurring psychoactive indolealkylamine drugs. It acts as a nonselective serotonin (5-HT) agonist and causes many physiological and behavioral changes. 5-MeO-DMT is O-demethylated by polymorphic cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) to an active metabolite, bufotenine, while it is mainly inactivated through the deamination...
Current Drug Abuse Reviews
September 1, 2010
Marinus N. Verbaten
10 citations
A quantitative meta-analysis was carried out on the chronic effects of ecstasy use on working memory (WM), assumed to consist of a central executive (CE) and four executive subcomponents: Updating, Attention shifting, Inhibition and Access to long term memory. Publications dating from January 1998 to January 2008 were only included when they fulfilled the criteria for a meta-analysis (number of...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
September 1, 2010
Bryan A Killinger, Mary M Peet, Lisa E Baker
41 citations
Salvia divinorum is a small perennial shrub that has gained recent popularity among the drug-using subculture as a legal alternative to hallucinogens. Salvinorin A, the main active compound found in the S.divinorum plant, is an atypical hallucinogen with pharmacological selectivity at kappa opioid (KOP) receptor sites and is a unique non-nitrogenous neoclerodane diterpene which is structurally...
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
August 2010
Sylvia K Shenouda, F Carvalho, Kurt J Varner
The recreational use of 3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy or MDMA) has increased dramatically over the past thirty years due to its ability to increase stamina and produce feelings of emotional closeness and wellbeing. In spite of the popular perception that MDMA is a safe drug, there is a large literature documenting that the drug can produce significant neurotoxicity, especially in...
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
August 1, 2010
Causes and effects of cellular oxidative stress as a result of MDMA abuse.