Salvinorin A - From natural product to human therapeutics

The hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum, a member of the mint family, has traditionally been used by the Mazatec natives of southern Mexico to induce ritual visions and is increasingly used in the US for recreational purposes. The main active ingredient in the plant is the diterpene salvinorin A, which is structurally distinct from other chemical classes of hallucinogens. In recent high-throughput screening experiments, salvinorin A was found to bind to the kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) with high specificity. Chemical analogs of the compound are now under study, in concert with functional characterization of KOR, to determine whether modulation of KOR activity could provide a basis for new psychotropic: medications. Indeed, there are indications that salvinorin A or its congeners may prove useful in both psychiatric and non-psychiatric diseases.