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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Acute effects of sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin), a dual 5-HT reuptake and PDE4 inhibitor, in the human amygdala and its connection to the hypothalamus
Neuropsychopharmacology, Volume 38, No. 13, Year 2013
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Description
The South African endemic plant Sceletium tortuosum has a long history of traditional use as a masticatory and medicine by San and Khoikhoi people and subsequently by European colonial farmers as a psychotropic in tincture form. Over the past decade, the plant has attracted increasing attention for its possible applications in promoting a sense of wellbeing and relieving stress in healthy individuals and for treating clinical anxiety and depression. The pharmacological actions of a standardized extract of the plant (Zembrin) have been reported to be dual PDE4 inhibition and 5-HT reuptake inhibition, a combination that has been argued to offer potential therapeutic advantages. Here we tested the acute effects of Zembrin administration in a pharmaco-fMRI study focused on anxiety-related activity in the amygdala and its connected neurocircuitry. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, 16 healthy participants were scanned during performance in a perceptual-load and an emotion-matching task. Amygdala reactivity to fearful faces under low perceptual load conditions was attenuated after a single 25 mg dose of Zembrin. Follow-up connectivity analysis on the emotion-matching task showed that amygdala-hypothalamus coupling was also reduced. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the attenuating effects of S. tortuosum on the threat circuitry of the human brain and provide supporting evidence that the dual 5-HT reuptake inhibition and PDE4 inhibition of this extract might have anxiolytic potential by attenuating subcortical threat responsivity. © 2013 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. All rights reserved.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC3828542/bin/npp2013183x1.pdf
Authors & Co-Authors
Terburg, David
Netherlands, Utrecht
Universiteit Utrecht
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Syal, Supriya
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Canada, Toronto
University of Toronto
Rosenberger, Lisa Anna
Netherlands, Utrecht
Universiteit Utrecht
Heany, Sarah J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Phillips, Nicole J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Gericke, Nigel P.
Netherlands, Arnhem
Hg
Stein, Dan J.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Van Honk, Jack
Netherlands, Utrecht
Universiteit Utrecht
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Statistics
Citations: 55
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1038/npp.2013.183
ISSN:
0893133X
e-ISSN:
1740634X
Research Areas
Disability
Health System And Policy
Mental Health
Study Design
Cohort Study
Case-Control Study