A biogenic amine is a biogenic substance with one or more amine groups. They are basic nitrogenous compounds formed mainly by decarboxylation of amino acids or by amination and transamination of aldehydes and ketones. Biogenic amines are organic bases with low molecular weight and are synthesized by microbial, vegetable and animal metabolisms. In food and beverages they are formed by the enzymes of raw material or are generated by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids.
Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) describes the off-label, experimental use of the medication naltrexone at low doses for diseases such as Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis, but evidence for recommending such use is lacking.
Nuciferine is an alkaloid found within the plants Nymphaea caerulea and Nelumbo nucifera.
Quinolinic acid, also known as pyridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid, is a dicarboxylic acid with a pyridine backbone. It is a colorless solid. It is the biosynthetic precursor to Niacin.
A reuptake inhibitor (RI) is a type of drug known as a reuptake modulator that inhibits the plasmalemmal transporter-mediated reuptake of a neurotransmitter from the synapse into the pre-synaptic neuron. This leads to an increase in extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter and an increase in neurotransmission. Various drugs exert their psychological and physiological effects through reuptake inhibition, including many antidepressants and psychostimulants.
VUF-6002 (JNJ-10191584) is a drug which acts as a potent and selective antagonist at the histamine H4 receptor. It has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in animal studies of inflammatory diseases.
Protodioscin is a steroidal saponin compound found in a number of plant species, most notably in the Tribulus, TrigonellaDioscorea and Trillium families. It is best known as the putative active component of the herbal aphrodisiac plant Tribulus terrestris.
Peptide T is an HIV entry inhibitor discovered in 1986 by Candace Pert and Michael Ruff, a US neuroscientist and immunologist. Peptide T, and its modified analog Dala1-peptide T-amide (DAPTA), a drug in clinical trials, is a short peptide derived from the HIV envelope protein gp120 which blocks binding and infection of viral strains which use the CCR5 receptor to infect cells.
d-Deprenyl, also known as or dextro-N-propargyl-N-methylamphetamine, is an MAO-B inhibitor that metabolizes into d-amphetamine and d-methamphetamine and is therefore also a norepinephrine–dopamine releasing agent. It is the opposite enantiomer of l-deprenyl (selegiline).
Palmatine is a protoberberine alkaloid found in several plants including Phellodendron amurense, Coptis Chinensis and Corydalis yanhusuo, Tinospora cordifolia, Tinospora sagittata, Phellodendron amurense, Stephania yunnanensis.
Bergenin, alias cuscutin, is trihydroxybenzoic acid glycoside. It is the C-glycoside of 4-O-methyl gallic acid. It possesses an O-demethylated derivative called norbergenin. These are chemical compounds and drugs of Ayurveda, commonly known as Paashaanbhed. It shows a potent immunomodulatory effect.
(+)-Naloxone (dextro-naloxone) is a drug which is the opposite enantiomer of the opioid antagonist drug (−)-naloxone. Unlike (-)-naloxone, (+)-naloxone has no significant affinity for opioid receptors, but instead has been discovered to act as a selective antagonist of Toll-like receptor 4. This receptor is involved in immune system responses, and activation of TLR4 induces glial activation and release of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α and Interleukin-1.
Vitisin A is a resveratrol tetramer found in plants of the genus Vitis. It is a complex of two resveratrol dimers, (+)-epsilon-viniferin and ampelopsin B.
Rottlerin (mallotoxin) is a polyphenol natural product isolated from the Asian tree Mallotus philippensis. Rottlerin displays a complex spectrum of pharmacology.
N-Arachidonylglycine (NAGly) is a carboxylic metabolite of the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA). Since it was first synthesized in 1996, NAGly has been a primary focus of the relatively contemporary field of lipidomics due to its wide range of signaling targets in the brain, the immune system and throughout various other bodily systems. In combination with 2‐arachidonoyl glycerol (2‐AG), NAGly has enabled the identification of a family of lipids often referred to as endocannabinoids. Recently, NAGly has been found to bind to G-protein coupled receptor 18 (GPR18), the putative abnormal cannabidiol receptor. NaGly is an endogenous inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and thereby increases the ethanolamide endocannabinoids AEA, oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) levels. NaGly is found throughout the body and research on its explicit functions is ongoing.
Schisandrins (schizandrins) are a group of bioactive chemical compounds found in Schisandra chinensis.
The pharmacology of antidepressants is not entirely clear. The earliest and probably most widely accepted scientific theory of antidepressant action is the monoamine hypothesis, which states that depression is due to an imbalance of the monoamine neurotransmitters. It was originally proposed based on the observation that certain hydrazine anti-tuberculosis agents produce antidepressant effects, which was later linked to their inhibitory effects on monoamine oxidase, the enzyme that catalyses the breakdown of the monoamine neurotransmitters. All currently marketed antidepressants have the monoamine hypothesis as their theoretical basis, with the possible exception of agomelatine which acts on a dual melatonergic-serotonergic pathway. Despite the success of the monoamine hypothesis it has a number of limitations: for one, all monoaminergic antidepressants have a delayed onset of action of at least a week; and secondly, there are a sizeable portion (>40%) of depressed patients that do not adequately respond to monoaminergic antidepressants. Further evidence to the contrary of the monoamine hypothesis are the recent findings that a single intravenous infusion with ketamine, an antagonist of the NMDA receptor — a type of glutamate receptor — produces rapid, robust and sustained antidepressant effects. Monoamine precursor depletion also fails to alter mood. To overcome these flaws with the monoamine hypothesis a number of alternative hypotheses have been proposed, including the glutamate, neurogenic, epigenetic, cortisol hypersecretion and inflammatory hypotheses. Another hypothesis that has been proposed which would explain the delay is the hypothesis that monoamines don't directly influence mood, but influence emotional perception biases.
Lunamarine (punarnavine) is a quinolone alkaloid present in Boerhavia diffusa (punarnava).
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetics are synthetic compounds that mimic the native superoxide dismutase enzyme. SOD mimetics effectively convert the superoxide anion, a reactive oxygen species, into hydrogen peroxide, which is further converted into water by catalase. Reactive oxygen species are natural byproducts of cellular respiration and cause oxidative stress and cell damage, which has been linked to causing cancers, neurodegeneration, age-related declines in health, and inflammatory diseases. SOD mimetics are a prime interest in therapeutic treatment of oxidative stress because of their smaller size, longer half-life, and similarity in function to the native enzyme.
Forsythoside B is a natural product from the phenylpropanoid glycoside group, which is found in a number of plant species such as Marrubium alysson, Phlomis armeniaca, Scutellaria salviifolia, Phlomoides tuberosa, Phlomoides rotata, Pedicularis longiflora and Teucrium chamaedrys, several of which are used in Chinese traditional medicine in preparations such as Shuanghuanglian (双黄连). It acts as an inhibitor of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, IκB and NF-κB, as well as the temperature sensitive channel TRPV3, but also activates the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway which can cause hypersensitivity reactions when it is injected intravenously.
