Indepth here:
and an overview here:
R Jash and KA Chowdary,
Pharmacognosy research , Jan 2014
An increased inclination has been observed for the use of herbal drugs in chronic and incurable diseases. Treatment of psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia is largely palliative and more importantly, a prominent adverse effect prevails with the majority of anti-psychotic drugs, which are the extrapyramidal motor disorders. Existing anti-psychotic drug therapy is not so promising, and their adverse effect is a matter of concern for continuing the therapy for long duration.This experimental study was done to evaluate the neuroleptic activity of the ethanolic extracts of two plants Alstonia Scholaris and Bacopa Monnieri with different anti-psychotic animal models with a view that these plant extracts shall have no or at least reduced adverse effect so that it can be used for long duration.Two doses of both the extracts (100 and 200 mg/kg) and also standard drug haloperidol (0.2 mg/kg) were administered to their respective groups once daily with 5 different animal models. After that, the concentration of the dopamine neurotransmitter was estimated in two different regions of the brain viz. frontal cortex and striatum.The result of the study indicated a significant reduction of amphetamine-induced stereotype and conditioned avoidance response for both the extracts compared with the control group, but both did not have any significant effect in phencyclidine-induced locomotor activity and social interaction activity. However, both the extracts showed minor signs of catalepsy compared to the control group. The study also revealed that the neuroleptic effect was due to the reduction of the dopamine concentration in the frontal cortex region of the rat brain. The results largely pointed out the fact that both the extract may be having the property to alleviate the positive symptoms of schizophrenia by reducing the dopamine levels of dopaminergic neurons of the brain.The estimation of dopamine in the two major regions of brain indicated the alteration of dopamine levels was the reason for the anti-psychotic activity as demonstrated by the different animal models.
and related studies here:
N Sheikh, A Ahmad, KB Siripurapu, VK Kuchibhotla, S Singh and G Palit,
Journal of ethnopharmacology , May 22 2007
Bacopa monniera (BM) is well known for its neuropharmacological effects. Our previous studies indicated the adaptogenic effect of standardized extract of BM in various stress models. In the present study, effect of BM was evaluated on acute stress (AS) and chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) induced changes in plasma corticosterone and monoamines-noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in cortex and hippocampus regions of brain in rats. Panax root powder (Panax quinquefolium) was taken as standard. Subjecting animals to AS (immobilization for 150 min once only) and CUS (different stressors for 7 days) resulted in significant elevation in plasma corticosterone levels, which was significantly countered by treatment with BM at a dose of 40 and 80 mg/kg p.o. similar to the effects of Panax quinquefolium (PQ) at 100 mg/kg p.o. AS exposure significantly increased the levels of 5-HT and decreased NA content in both the brain regions while DA content was significantly increased in cortex and decreased in hippocampus regions. In CUS regimen, levels of NA, DA and 5-HT were significantly depleted in cortex and hippocampus regions of brain. Treatment with BM (40 and 80 mg/kg) attenuated the stress induced changes in levels of 5-HT and DA in cortex and hippocampus regions but was ineffective in normalizing the NA levels in AS model, whereas PQ treatment significantly reverted back the effects of stress. In CUS model, pretreatment with BM and PQ significantly elevated the levels of NA, DA and 5-HT levels in cortex and levels of NA and 5-HT in hippocampus regions. Hence, our study indicates that the adaptogenic activity of BM might be due to the normalization of stress induced alteration in plasma corticosterone and levels of monoamines like NA, 5-HT and DA in cortex and hippocampus regions of the brain, which are more vulnerable to stressful conditions analogous to the effects of PQ.
M Chatterjee, R Verma, R Kumari, S Singh, AK Verma, AK Dwivedi and G Palit,
Pharmaceutical biology , 2015
Schizophrenia is a chronic disabling psychiatric disorder affecting 1% of the population worldwide. Due to the adverse effects of available antipsychotic medications, recent investigations have focused on the search for well-tolerated, safe molecules from natural resources to control the severity and progression of schizophrenia.To screen the standardized extract of Bacopa monniera Linn. (Scrophulariaceae) (BM) for its antipsychotic potential in the ketamine-induced psychosis model with mice.Graded dose of BM (40, 80, and 120 mg/kg, p.o.) were given to the mice 1 h prior to ketamine administration and tested for positive symptoms and cognitive deficits. A chronic ketamine treatment regimen was used to study the effect of BM on negative symptoms such as immobility enhancement. Each mouse was used once for the behavioral studies.BM reduced ketamine-induced hyperactivity with an EC50 value of 76.60 mg/kg. The 80 mg/kg dose was used for all other behavior analysis. Pretreatment with BM at 80 mg/kg showed two-fold increases in transfer latency time (TLT) in passive avoidance task. Chronic BM pretreatment (80 mg/kg p.o. daily × 10 d) ameliorated the ketamine-induced enhanced immobility effect by 21% in the forced swim test. BM treatment reversed ketamine-induced increase in monoamine oxidase activity in both cortex and striatum and normalized the acetylcholinesterase activity and the glutamate levels in the hippocampus.Overall our findings suggest that BM possesses antipsychotic properties which might be due to its modulatory action on dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate neurotransmission.
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I tried it , fir 2 months didn’t notice anything
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I think that it helps with negative symptoms. I have been doing very good after i started it around 1 week ago. I am also taking Sarcosine(1 gram daily), Concerta(54mg) and Zyprexa(5mg).
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Does this mean that it should not be taken if on Latuda ? Just switched Serdolect to Latuda and read that it might affect its metabolism. Anyone taken Bacopa Monnieri with Latuda ?
There is no magic pill. I used to take Alpha Brain and it contained Bacopa Monnieri. I take cogentin because I don’t want to remember certain things. I think cigarettes worsen my schizophrenia. I quit for a year but now I’m back smoking because I’m stressed out about my past lives.