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Hepatic is not much to look at. These species of low ground plants crawl quite discreetly, covering their hand-like fronds on rocks and logs. But there is a secret side to some of these mossy herbs. In a report released yesterday (October 24) in Science Advances, researchers revealed that some members of the radula Hepatic genus: there are about 9,000 hepatic species; radula contains about 200 to 300 species – contains a chemical compound that relieves pain, much like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana. Unlike THC, however, perrotetinene, as its name suggests, does not give you psychoactive effects.
Perrotetinene has a molecular structure similar to that of THC, which allows the two compounds to bind readily to the cannabinoid receptors of the brain. Once they are there, the compounds stop the flow of pain signals to the brain and lessen their effects, thus relieving pain and inflammation. Assuming that perrotetinene acts in the same way on the human brain as on the mouse, the main objective of this recent study.
In the past, it was easy for scientists to literally ignore the liver. "Nobody really notices [liverworts] Douglas Kinghorn, a phytochemist at Ohio State University-Columbus, told ScienceNews. "Sometimes plants contain important medicinal compounds from unexpected sources." But that does not mean that you should start scouring your garden looking for any promising moss. The study only identified three hepatic species –Radula perrottetii, Radula marginata, and Radula laxirameaknown to produce the compound, and even then only in minute quantities. (R. marginata, which is endemic in New Zealand and Tasmania, is sometimes sold online as a "high legal" – though, as the study notes, "the online community reporting high legalities confirms and refutes the anecdotes about the effects of cannabis like cannabis R. marginata. "In short, it might not work.)
Nevertheless, scientists say they are optimistic about the synthetic version of the chemical, obtained by replicating its molecular structure in a laboratory environment – although it is still commercially available.
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