Introduction: Minocycline has anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-oxidant effects. Preclinical data suggest that minocycline could be beneficial for treating common neurological disorders, including Parkinson disease and multiple sclerosis. Methods: In this study, the effects of minocycline on harmaline-induced motor and cognitive impairments were studied in male Wistar rats. The rats ...

PURPOSE Peganum harmala L. (Zygophyllaceae) seeds extract is one of the main components of an ethnobotanical preparation used in the treatment of neoplasms in Iran. Cytotoxic effects of P. harmala extract on cancerous cell-lines have been reported before. beta-carbolines like harmaline and harmine are the major alkaloids present in the seeds of the P. harmala. Considering reports concerning DNA...

Introduction: Beta-carboline alkaloids of P. harmala are shown to have immune-modulatory effects in several studies. Extracts of this plant have significant anti-inflammatory effect via the inhibition of some inflammatory mediators including PGE2 and TNF-α. In postmortem studies, structural alterations to the cerebellum have been recognized, including Purkinje cell loss being re...

1. The effects of intraperitoneal injections of 10 mg/kg harmaline were tested in normal mice and three strains of cerebellar mutant mice with Purkinje cell degeneration. Ten normal (wild-type) mice (+/+), as well as five lurcher (lc/+), six nervous (nr/nr), and eight Purkinje cell degeneration (pcd/pcd) mutants were implanted with chronic electromyogram (EMG) electrodes in the hamstring and qu...

Twenty nine decoctions of Banisteriopsis caapi from four different sources and one specimen of B. caapi paste were analyzed for N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), tetrahydroharmine (THH), harmaline and harmine. Other plants were also used in the preparation of these products, typically Psychotria viridis, which provides DMT. There were considerable variations in alkaloid profiles, both within and be...

Simultaneous recording of complex spikes from multiple Purkinje cells (up to 44) in the rat cerebellum was used to examine the effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin, 5-HT) on olivocerebellar function. Microinjection into the inferior olive was found to increase the average firing rate of inferior olivary neurons while slowing their oscillation frequency and increasing the coherence of their...

Alkaloids with allelopathic activity are not as well-known as other allelochemicals. Our study revealed that total alkaloids from seeds of the medicinal plant Peganum harmala L. possessed significant growth inhibitory effect on four treated plants, with dicot plants (lettuce and amaranth) being more sensitive than the tested monocot plants (wheat and ryegrass). Further investigation led to the ...