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Medicinal Plants of Central Asia
Published in Raymond Cooper, Jeffrey John Deakin, Natural Products of Silk Road Plants, 2020
Farukh S. Sharopov, William N. Setzer
Peganum harmala L. (Nitrariaceae) (Garmala obyknovennaya) (Russian), Hazorispand (Tajik)) is native to the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Central Asia (including Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan), and China (Missouri Botanical Garden, 2019). In Kyrgyzstan, a decoction of the root is used externally to treat scabies and other skin disorders; the aerial parts are burned, and the smoke inhaled to treat coughs and bronchitis (Pawera et al., 2016). In Tajikistan, the plant is used to treat liver problems, while the smoke from the burning seeds is used to treat symptoms of influenza (Williams, 2012). The plant (seeds, roots, aerial parts) contains the toxic alkaloids harmine, harmaline, harmalol, harmane, and vasicine (Figure 4.11) (Pulpati et al., 2008; Herraiz et al., 2010; Hemmateenejad et al., 2006).
Catalog of Herbs
Published in James A. Duke, Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
Per 100 g, the fresh forage is reported to contain 67.7 g H2O, 5.7 g protein, 1.5 g fat, 16 g N-free extract, 5.7 g fiber, 3.4 g ash, 0.56% Ca, 0.06% P, 0.0009% Cu, and 250 mg thiamine. Egyptians sell the seed oil as the aphrodisiac Zit-el-Harmel. Dry seed contain 29.4 to 35.2% protein, 13.5 to 17.5% oil. Seeds contain harmine, harmaline, harmalol, harman, peganine, isopeganine, dipegene, vasicinone, and deoxyvasicinone.80 According to Emboden, harmine, harmaline, and harmalol have produced sexual responses in rats under laboratory conditions, 5 mg harmine eliciting measurable sexual activity. Harmine is used in research on mental disease and encephalitis.54 Harmine and harmaline elicit hallucinogenic effects in humans at doses of 4 mg/kg. Closely related to the harmala bases is 6-methox-ytetrahydroharman, a natural hormone of the pineal body, hallucinogenic at doses of 1.5 mg/kg.
Phytochemistry of Harmal
Published in Ephraim Shmaya Lansky, Shifra Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen, Harmal, 2017
Ephraim Shmaya Lansky, Shifra Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen
Unlike the more classical harmala alkaloids such as harmine, tetrahydroharmine, harmaline, harmalol, and harmol—usually listed as constituents of P. harmala or of the Ayahuasca liana, Banisteriopsis caapi—harmane seems rarely mentioned in these contexts (Figure 6.37). However, the presence of harmane in P. harmala has been recently confirmed (Tascón et al. 2016)—it is probably a major constituent (Bensalem et al. 2014), and so, its presence should be taken into consideration when considering the pharmacology of the whole plant, its extracts, and its total alkaloid fractions. Harmane is also among the β-carbolines found in the flowering tops of another plant better known as a carrier of harmine, i.e., the passion flower, Passiflora incarnata (Avula et al. 2012), and is among the MAO-A inhibitors in tobacco smoke (Truman et al. 2017) (Figure 6.38).
Putative mechanism for cancer suppression by PLGA nanoparticles loaded with Peganum harmala smoke extract
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2021
Hoda Shabestarian, Masoud Homayouni Tabrizi, Monireh Movahedi, Ali Neamati, Fariba Sharifnia
Nowadays, many traditional medicines are enjoying a wide acceptance by the general public and continue to be used in their original form, including that of smoke. Among these medicinal smokes is the smoke from burning harmala seeds (Moloudizargari et al.2013, Shafiee and Moravej-Salehi 2015). Indigenous to Iran, harmala is a persistent, hairless plant, scientifically known as Peganum harmala from the Zygophyllaceae family (Abbott et al.2008, Marwat and Ur Rehman 2011). The active ingredients of Peganum include alkaloids that accumulate in its seeds and roots. These compounds are beta-carbolines, such as harmaline, harmine, harmalol, harman, and quinazoline, and their derivatives, such as vasicine and deoxyvasicinone (Kartal et al.2003, Passos and Mironidou-Tzouveleki 2016). In terms of temperament, harmala is warm and dry and has various properties characterised as hypnotic, antiperspirant, anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory (Lamchouri 2014).
Effect of Ritualistic Consumption of Ayahuasca on Hepatic Function in Chronic Users
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019
Sueli Moreira Mello, Paula Christiane Soubhia, Gabriela Silveira, Nelson Francisco Corrêa-Neto, Rafael Lanaro, José Luiz Costa, Alessandra Linardi
The liver is the major organ for the metabolism and detoxification of drugs and xenobiotics absorbed from the alimentary tract, and may therefore be susceptible to injury by these compounds at any time. The hepatic oxidation and conjugation of β-carbolines play an important role in the detoxification of these alkaloids (Mulder and Hagedoorn 1974; Tweedie, Prough, and Burke 1988; Yu et al. 2003) and may protect other organs from damage by these compounds. For example, harmine and harmaline can be converted into hydroxylated intermediates such as harmol and harmalol via O-demethylation by cytochrome P450 isozymes.