This mossy plant could be "more medically effective than cannabis" / Boing Boing



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What is interesting in the scientific world: Liverwort contains a psychoactive substance ("perrottetinene" or "PET") which has molecular structures similar to those of THC. Researchers believe that THC may be superior to easing pain signals and reducing inflammation. It just does not produce the same kind of high.

ScienceDaily :

Up to now, it was thought that cannabis was the only plant producing THC. However, as early as 1994, the Japanese phytochemist Yoshinori Asakawa discovered a substance in the hepatic Radula perrottetii that was linked to THC and named this natural substance "perrottetinene". In this natural product, the individual atoms are connected to each other in a manner similar to that of THC, but they differ in their three-dimensional structure and additionally have an additional benzyl group.

A few years ago, Jürg Gertsch of the Institute. Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bern discovered that liverworts were advertised as "legal highs" on the Internet. At the time, nothing was known about the pharmacological effects of this substance. In collaboration with chemists from Erick Carreira's team of ETH's Zurich Department of Chemistry, the Gertsch research team in Bern has compared biochemically and pharmacologically THC and the perrottétinène. once on site, it specifically activates the cannabinoid receptors. It even demonstrates an anti-inflammatory effect of the brain superior to THC, which makes the perrottetinene particularly interesting considering its potential medical application "It is amazing that only two species of plants, separated by 300 million years of evolution, produce psychoactive cannabinoids, "says Gertsch. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

… Andrea Chicca, a member of the scientific staff of Jürg Gertsch's group, sees potential for development in the therapeutic use of perrottetinene or similar substances: "This natural substance has a lower psychoactive effect and, at the same time, able to inhibit inflammatory processes in the brain. "

If you are looking to get a hepatic, note that the three psychoactive species of the genus Radula According to Science News .

Read: Liverwort may prove more medically effective than cannabis, according to research

image by University of Bern / Stefan Fischer

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