Talk:Sceletium tortuosum

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"Long-term use in the local context followed by abstinence has not been reported to result in a withdrawal state. " -Deleted. Erowid experience reports would suggest otherwise...I read many mentions of addiction potential, and effects were reported of marked psychological withdrawal. Effects on the nicotina and dopamine receptors would certainly indicate physical/psychological addiction potential. - Earnest Critic

[edit] False information

I feel this article contains quite a lot of false information, along with not even one reference. The "mesembrine is an SSRI" theory was more of a hypothesis, and seems to have been proven wrong (see Google Scholar HTML Link - I've uploaded the PDF to Image:Mesembrine pde4 inhibtor.pdf because the PDF is much cleaner and clearer to read).

Also: "receptor-specific activity, and receptor activities also found on nicotinic, dopamine and nor-adrenaline sites" - References? It might just be hearsay. "The plant is not hallucinogenic" - Isn't that just opinion? I agree with it, but still we need proof. --Mark PEA 19:51, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi, this article seems to have been very inactive the last months, but its annoying that there still is not clarity on this subject. I feel that the article might be disinforming to some extent, if the SSRI claim mentioned on the above section is not true. I have heard a lot of references to mesembrine having some kind of effect or interaction on nicotine, noradrenaline and dopamine receptor sites. But I have never heard any actual proof, only claims that "it is known" and that "mesembrine is known to".

Another thing that is often mentioned about mesembrine (or another alkaloid in Kanna, not sure), is "its potential" for helping with addictions by blocking mentioned receptor sites (nicotine?). I dont really understand where all the actual info has gone and whether someone just made it up. But I hope some of you can please do some research on this subject. 85.82.195.131 08:10, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Hey there... About the nicotine / dopamine / norepinephrine interactions, until there is a reference for it, it shouldn't really be here. 2 references in the article are the patent, which states the SSRI activity of mesembrine, and the effectiveness it had on some participants against addiction for over 24 hrs or something - although I haven't read the study in detail, I don't think it mentions whether it was double or even single blinded - therefore it isn't completely reliable IMO. When I get time, i'll do more research into rolipram's antidepressant effects, as the study stating mesembrine to be a PDE4 inhibitor states the similarities the two drugs have, and AFAIK, rolipram isn't an SSRI.

Also, I agree that it is annoying this article hasn't been cleared up, but there just aren't enough studies being done on mesembrine (or S. tortuosum for that matter) Mark PEA 19:28, 3 January 2007 (UTC)