The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

ABSTRACT
used with mice instead of rats and he increased the time of observation. He recorded squares entered, rearings up on hind legs, and length of
immobility. Valdés concluded that his purified salvinorin A was not as active as the TLC fraction that had contained it and suggested that
there may be another compound(s) in S. divinorum which would increase or potentiate the effects of salvinorin A. Doses as low as 10 mg/kg
decreased all three measures of activity. Salvinorin A had a "sedating" effect on the mice, but salvinorin B had no effect in this bioassay (1).
Although Valdés was able to extract pure salvinorin A from the leaves of S. divinorum, he could not determine with certainty that it is a
psychoactive compound (1). Daniel Siebert later isolated salvinorin A in the same manner as Valdés and administered it to 20 human
subjects, demonstrating that it is indeed the major psychoactive component. When the leaves or extract were quickly swallowed so that little
contact with the oral mucosa was allowed, there were no noticeable effects. However, when the material was kept in contact with the oral
mucosa, all of Siebert’s volunteers reported psychoactivity. He suggested that salvinorin A is deactivated by the human gastrointestinal
system (2). Ott disagrees, saying that this conclusion is premature, owing to the relatively low dosage utilized by Siebert in his bioassays (3).
Siebert also found that the strongest psychoactive effects were produced when pure salvinorin A was vaporized and inhaled by test subjects
(2). Valdés ultimately concluded that salvinorin A, the first documented diterpene hallucinogen, was the most potent naturally occurring
hallucinogen, effective in dosages as low as 200 to 500 mcg (23).
Siebert describes a variety of psychoactive effects of salvinorin A. He writes, "people report having seen visions of people, objects, and
places....out of body experiences are frequent. Occasionally individuals get up and move about with no apparent awareness of their
movements or behavior. Some individuals speak gibberish during the most intense phase of the experience, others laugh hysterically." The
experience of the subjects varied widely depending on dosage, set, and setting (2).
Based on bioassays, Valdés concluded that salvinorin B was not a psychoactive compound. However, this apparent lack of activity may have
been due to the fact that it would be less likely to cross cell membranes because of its lower fat solubility. Also, he suspected that his
emulsion was inadequate, saying that salvinorin B may be active if it were vaporized and inhaled by the test subject (19).
NovaScreenTM receptor site screening on salvinorin A (concentration = 10-5 M) showed no significant inhibition for various receptor sites
tested (2). The receptor sites investigated are listed in Table 1.
Method
Dried S. divinorum leaves were obtained from Kava Kauaii (Hawaii). To test for antimicrobials, two crude extractions of dried, powdered
Salvia divinorum leaf were made. For the first extraction, 100 ml hot distilled water was used to extract 5.016 g dried leaf. Water was heated
to 95 degrees Celsius and temperature of the leaf-water mixture maintained for 15 minutes. Filtering yielded 18.5 ml brown fluid. In the
second extraction, 4.113 g leaf was extracted at room temperature with 25 ml acetone producing 14.0 ml of a deep, bright green solution.
This mixture was diluted with an equal volume of distilled water. The control solution consisted of equal volumes of acetone and distilled
water.
These crude extracts were then used in a standard disc-diffusion method (26, 27, 28) against 18 test organisms. Each disc was impregnated
with 0.02 mL of the appropriate extract or control and tested against an organism plated on starch agar. The organisms tested were
Alcaligenes faecalis, Bacillus brevis, B. cereus, B. polymyxa, B. subtilis, Citrobacter freundi, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli,
Micrococcus luteus, M. roseus, Proteus mirabilis, P. vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Serratia liquefaciens,
Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, and Streptococcus lactis.
To measure the effect of S. divinorum on smooth muscle, 1 inch segments of duodenum were removed from non-fasted common mice (N =
5). Each segment was immersed in Tyrode’s solution and connected to a LafayetteTM 76613 force transducer as shown in figure 1. The force
transducer was connected to a LafayetteTM 76406TMG minigraph to record the frequency and strength of contractions. 10.033 g S. divinorum
was extracted with 400 ml Tyrode’s solution at 95 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, yielding 237 ml of a brown solution. Some of this extract
was diluted with an equal volume of Tyrode’s solution. The Tyrode’s compartment was warmed continuously in a water bath at 37 degrees C
and was alternately flushed with 100% S. divinorum extract, 50% S. divinorum extract, and Tyrode’s solution. Controls were produced by
similar extractions of Laurus nobilis. 5.010 g L. nobilis leaves were extracted with 200 ml Tyrode’s solution, yielding 141 ml dull yellow
solution.
Findings
The water-soluble components of S. divinorum did not contain antimicrobials. In P. aeruginosa, very slight inhibition of growth of about 1
mm occurred around the edges of the disc. There was no visible inhibition of any of the other test organisms.
The acetone extraction contained components which inhibited growth of certain bacteria. Control discs did not inhibit growth of test
http://www.sagewisdom.org/rovinsky.html (4 of 10) [04.09.01 10:22:09]