Journal Club with Dr. Jonathan Cachat

This great Journal of Psychopharmacology article on "Pivotal Mental States" led to a wide ranging discussion with Dr. Jonathan Cachat about the bio-psycho-social study of mental states, use of psychedelics in a therapeutic setting, spirituality and religion, the rapidly changing modern mental landscape, positive mental attitude, and why the immensity, plasticity, and adaptability of the human mind is reason to be optimistic.

Article discussed in this episode: Brouwer A, Carhart-Harris RL. Pivotal mental states. J Psychopharmacol. 2020 Nov 11:269881120959637. doi: 10.1177/0269881120959637. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33174492.

Full Text (open access) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881120959637

Dr. Jonthan Cachat can be found on Twitter @jcachat and at ccvresearch.com

Music: Captain Bigwheel “Moonrunner”

Kratom Science Journal Club is produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

Happy Thanksgiving! The holidays after a rough year are always a great time to drink like a fish. In this episode we explore kratom and alcohol. Emerging testimony and research indicates kratom may be an effective harm reduction tool to cut down on alcohol consumption, withdrawal, and cravings. We read testimony from KratomScience.com commenters, then get into a study showing four isolated kratom alkaloids all decreased alcohol consumption in mice.

Article discussed in this episode: Gutridge AM, Robins MT, Cassell RJ, Uprety R, Mores KL, Ko MJ, Pasternak GW, Majumdar S, van Rijn RM. G protein-biased kratom-alkaloids and synthetic carfentanil-amide opioids as potential treatments for alcohol use disorder. Br J Pharmacol. 2020 Apr;177(7):1497-1513. doi: 10.1111/bph.14913. Epub 2020 Jan 24. PMID: 31705528; PMCID: PMC7060366.

Dr. Jonthan Cachat can be found on Twitter @jcachat and at ccvresearch.com

Music: Captain Bigwheel “Moonrunner”

Kratom Science Journal Club is produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

A study on kratom’s chemical composition asks, what does the little-researched kratom alkaloid speciofoline do? And what are the implications for drug interactions and the differences in alkaloid content in kratom products?

The brand new study published last week in Scientific Reports examined the chemical composition of 53 kratom products and divided them into two categories: high-speciofoline and low-speciofoline. As in previous studies, the researchers found kratom may be a safer treatment alternative than classical opioids because of how it acts on the mu-opioid receptor, but can kratom create risks for drug interactions if it slows liver metabolism of other drugs? The study of the alkaloid speciofoline may bring us closer to understanding why different kratom products have slightly differing effects. Does the color code of kratom product varieties -- red (for bed), white (for flight), and green (in between) -- hold water?

Study discussed in this episode: Todd DA, Kellogg JJ, Wallace ED, Khin M, Flores-Bocanegra L, Tanna RS, McIntosh S, Raja HA, Graf TN, Hemby SE, Paine MF, Oberlies NH, Cech NB. Chemical composition and biological effects of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa): In vitro studies with implications for efficacy and drug interactions.Scientific Reports.2020 Nov 5;10(1):19158. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76119-w. PMID: 33154449.

Full text of study https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76119-w

Dr. Jonthan Cachat can be found on Twitter @jcachat and at ccvresearch.com

Music: Captain Bigwheel "Moonrunner"

Kratom Science Journal Club is produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

This week we look at a study by a team from University of Florida called “Lyophilized Kratom Tea as a Therapeutic Option for Opioid Dependence”. The science is catching up with what thousands of kratom consumers are saying -- that kratom can be a safe and effective harm reduction tool for opioid withdrawal and dependence. In 2018 and 2019, University of Florida College of Pharmacy received close to $7 million in grants from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse to study kratom.

Study discussed in this episode: Wilson LL, Harris HM, Eans SO, Brice-Tutt AC, Cirino TJ, Stacy HM, Simons CA, León F, Sharma A, Boyer EW, Avery BA, McLaughlin JP, McCurdy CR. Lyophilized Kratom Tea as a Therapeutic Option for Opioid Dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Sep 22;216:108310. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108310. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33017752.

Find Dr. Cachat on Twitter @jcachat or http://www.ccvresearch.com

Music: Captain Bigwheel, "Moonrunner"

Written and produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

Host Brian Gallagher and Dr. Jonathan Cachat welcome Dr. Marc Swogger, social scientist and clinical psychologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center to discuss his 2018 article published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence "Kratom Use and Mental Health: A Systematic Review". Along with co-author Zach Walsh, Dr. Swogger looked at all the literature published up to 2017 about mental health issues surrounding kratom consumption. We talk about why mostly men use kratom, cultural differences between Eastern and Western kratom consumption, the consistency of outcomes among careful kratom science vs. sloppy studies with foregone negative conclusions. Plus, Dr. Marc answers another Mark E. Smith question.

Article discussed in this episode:

Swogger MT, Walsh Z. Kratom use and mental health: A systematic review. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2018 Feb 1;183:134-140. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.10.012. Epub 2017 Dec 7. PMID: 29248691.

Music: Captain Bigwheel, "Moonrunner"

Written and produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

Citation: Macko E, Weisbach JA, Douglas B. Some observations on the pharmacology of mitragynine. Archives Internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Therapie. 1972 ;198(1):145-161.

We discuss this study from 1972 that tested the effects of mitragynine in rats, mice, cats, dogs, and monkeys. Dr. Jon talks about the difference between now and then in pharmacology labs. Similar conclusions about the effects of mitragynine and its relative safety in relation to opiates, but why was mitragynine never developed as a pain management drug, especially by the company that conducted this study, that would later merge into pharmaceutical giant Glaxo SmithKline? We examine how a mitragynine dose as high as 920 mg/kg in a mouse produced no evidence of toxicity. And a bit about mitragynine and metabolism.

Music: Captain Bigwheel, "Moonrunner"

Produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

Dr. Cachat and I talk about a study that tested rats with morphine, mitragynine, naloxone, buprenorphine, and rimonabant, and measured responses based on food-reinforcement training. The study concluded "The findings suggest that MG does not induce physiological dependence but can alleviate the physical symptoms associated with morphine withdrawal". We talk about how the rats are trained, what can be concluded from experiments based on responses alone, mitragynine extraction methods, extracted mitragynine vs. kratom methods of administration and effects, how cannabinoid and opioid receptors interact, and why studying kratom alkaloids might lead to the "holy grail" of pain management.

Journal article discussed in this episode:

Direct link to full text https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s00213-019-05418-6

Citation: Harun N, Johari IS, Mansor SM, Shoaib M. Assessing physiological dependence and withdrawal potential of mitragynine using schedule-controlled behaviour in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2020;237(3):855-867. doi:10.1007/s00213-019-05418-6

Summary of this study by Brian Gallagher https://www.kratomscience.com/2020/09/07/study-pure-mitragynine-does-not-induce-physiological-dependence-in-rats-treated-morphine-withdrawal-more-efficiently-than-buprenorphine/

How rats in these studies are trained (with video) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4354637/

Music: Captain Bigwheel, "Moonrunner"

Kratom Science Podcast is written and produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

This episode, Dr. Jon and I use the journal article "Following the Roots of Kratom" published in 2015 by BioMed Research International as a jumping off point to talk about kratom history, human evolution and psychoactive plants, Terence McKenna's "Stoned Ape" theory, and drug in religious cults . Plus, we answer listener mail about kratom alkaloids and use as an antidepressant.

References featured in this discussion:

Cinosi, E., Martinotti, G., Simonato, P., Singh, D., Demetrovics, Z., Roman-Urrestarazu, A., Bersani, F. S., Vicknasingam, B., Piazzon, G., Li, J. H., Yu, W. J., Kapitány-Fövény, M., Farkas, J., Di Giannantonio, M., & Corazza, O. (2015). Following "the Roots" of Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa): The Evolution of an Enhancer from a Traditional Use to Increase Work and Productivity in Southeast Asia to a Recreational Psychoactive Drug in Western Countries. BioMed research international, 2015, 968786. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/968786 Full Text Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4657101/pdf/BMRI2015-968786.pdf

Raffa, R. B. (2015). Kratom and other mitragynines: The chemistry and pharmacology of opioids from a non-opium source. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Kratom-Other-Mitragynines-Chemistry-Pharmacology/dp/1482225182

Saingam D, Assanangkornchai S, Geater AF, Balthip Q. Pattern and consequences of krathom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth.) use among male villagers in southern Thailand: a qualitative study. Int J Drug Policy. 2013;24(4):351-358. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.09.004 Full Text Link: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.09.004#

Terence McKenna talks about his "Stoned Ape Theory" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnEKoFrx1rI

Kratom Alkaloids list https://www.kratomscience.com/mitragyna-speciosa-kratom-alkaloids-effects/

The Kratom Science Podcast is Produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

Dr. Jon Cachat and I talk about the article "Kratom instrumentalization for severe pain self-treatment resulting in addiction – A case report of acute and chronic subjective effects" - This is an open access article that you can read for free https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7378692/

Müller, E., Hillemacher, T., & Müller, C. P. (2020). Kratom instrumentalization for severe pain self-treatment resulting in addiction - A case report of acute and chronic subjective effects. Heliyon, 6(7), e04507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04507

We also talk about a report by Muller called "Drugs as instruments: A new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use". Müller CP, Schumann G. Drugs as instruments: a new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use. Behav Brain Sci. 2011;34(6):293-310. doi:10.1017/S0140525X11000057

We answer listener mail, including a question from Dr. Marc Swogger, and among other things we talk about an elephant who was given a lethal dose of LSD

Music: Captain Bigwheel, "Moonrunner"

Produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.

This is the Kratom Science Journal Club with Dr. Jonathan Cachat, neuroscientist and expert in psychopharmacology. In each episode we discuss an article in a peer reviewed journal.

For episode 2 we discuss the article, “The Potential for Kratom as an Antidepressant and Antipsychotic” published in Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, edition 93, June 2020 and co-authored by Kratom Science Podcast guest Marc Swogger.

How do dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol work to affect psychosis and depression? What effect does mitragynine have on our brains? How is mitragynine metabolized? How does kratom work differently from opiates and psychedelics? And finally why were these substances made illegal, rendering these questions tough to answer even in the 21st century?

Full citation of article discussed: Johnson LE, Balyan L, Magdalany A, et al. The Potential for Kratom as an Antidepressant and Antipsychotic. Yale J Biol Med. 2020;93(2):283-289. Published 2020 Jun 29.

Dr. Cachat’s website http://jcachat.com/

Music: "Moonrunner" by Captain Bigwheel

Produced by Brian Gallagher for KratomScience.com

Disclaimer: There is no content on the Kratom Science Podcast nor on KratomScience.com that in any way constitutes medical claims or medical advice. You should consult a medical professional for medical advice and we believe this sincerely. Take care.