ReviewCurrent neuropharmacology2017
Herbal Highs: Review on Psychoactive Effects and Neuropharmacology.
Review in Current neuropharmacology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Benzydamine Experience: A Systematic Review of Benzydamine Abuse.Current neuropharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Focus on Cognitive Enhancement: A Narrative Overview of Nootropics and "Smart Drug" Use and Misuse.Biology · 2025Review
- Review
- Unveiling the Complexities of Medications, Substance Abuse, and Plants for Recreational and Narcotic Purposes: An In-Depth Analysis.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Genomic and cytogenetic analyses reveal satellite repeat signature in allotetraploid okra (Abelmoschus esculentus).BMC plant biology · 2024Article
- An Overview on the Hallucinogenic Peyote and Its Alkaloid Mescaline: The Importance of Context, Ceremony and Culture.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The genome of okra (Horticulture research · 2023Article
- Psychoactive Substances of Natural Origin: Toxicological Aspects, Therapeutic Properties and Analysis in Biological Samples.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Chemical Composition, Pharmacological, and Toxicological Effects of Betel Nut.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Review
- The Potential for Kratom as an Antidepressant and Antipsychotic.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2020Review
- Interpol review of controlled substances 2016-2019.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2020Review
- Novel Opioids: Systematic Web Crawling Within the e-Psychonauts' Scenario.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Article
- Psychedelic Fauna for Psychonaut Hunters: A Mini-Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2018Review
- EDITORIAL New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), a New Global Issue: Neuropharmacological, Chemical and Toxicological Aspects.Current neuropharmacologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA new trend among users of new psychoactive substances' the consumption of "herbal highs": plant parts containing psychoactive substances. Most of the substances extracted from herbs, in old centuries were at the centre of religious ceremonies of ancient civilizations. Currently, these herbal products are mainly sold by internet web sites and easily obtained since some of them have no legal restriction.
objectiveWe reviewed psychoactive effects and neuropharmacology of the most used "herbal highs" with characterized active principles, with studies reporting mechanisms of action, pharmacological and subjective effects, eventual secondary effects including intoxications and/or fatalities Method: The PubMed database was searched using the following key.words: herbal highs, Argyreia nervosa, Ipomoea violacea and Rivea corymbosa; Catha edulis; Datura stramonium; Piper methysticum; Mitragyna speciosa.
resultsPsychoactive plants here reviewed have been known and used from ancient times, even if for some of them limited information still exist regarding subjective and neuropharmacological effects and consequent eventual toxicity when plants are used alone or in combination with "classical" drugs of abuse.
conclusionSome "herbal highs" should be classified as harmful drugs since chronic administration has been linked with addiction and cognitive impairment; for some others taking into consideration only the recent trends of abuse, studies investigating these aspects are lacking.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.