New mescaline concentrations from 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis spp. (Cactaceae) (“San Pedro”) and their relevance to shamanic practice

Aim of the study

The aim of the present study is to determine in a procedurally uniform manner the mescaline concentrations in stem tissue of 14 taxa/cultivars of the subgenus Trichocereus of the genus Echinopsis (Cactaceae) and to evaluate the relationship (if any) between mescaline concentration and actual shamanic use of these plants.

Materials and methods

Columnar cacti of the genus Echinopsis, some of which are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes by South American shamans in traditional medicine, were selected for analysis because they were vegetative clones of plants of documented geographic origin and/or because they were known to be used by practitioners of shamanism. Mescaline content of the cortical stem chlorenchyma of each cactus was determined by Soxhlet extraction with methanol, followed by acid-base extraction with water and dichloromethane, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Results

By virtue of the consistent analytical procedures used, comparable alkaloid concentrations were obtained that facilitated the ranking of the various selected species and cultivars of Echinopsis, all of which exhibited positive mescaline contents. The range of mescaline concentrations across the 14 taxa/cultivars spanned two orders of magnitude, from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight.

Conclusions

The mescaline concentrations reported here largely support the hypothesis that plants with the highest mescaline concentrations - particularly E. pachanoi from Peru - are most associated with documented shamanic use.     

Adapting the German version of the dental environment stress questionnaire

Aims

To develop a German version of the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire, and to evaluate its reliability and validity.

Methods

The original English DES questionnaire was translated into German using a forward–backward translation process. To evaluate construct stability, a subgroup of dental students (n = 43) completed the DES twice (interval: 1 week). To evaluate how the DES responds to anticipated changes in stress, all dental students' (n = 64) DES scores and saliva cortisol levels administered from a clinical study were compared between holiday and term time. Furthermore, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and a stress self-assessment were used to determine the validity of the DES. Reliability analyses were calculated using Kendall's tau correlations. To estimate reliability strength, correlation coefficients and intraclass correlations (ICCs) were used.

Results

Regarding construct stability, 24 of 25 DES items had at least moderate correlations, and most items showed strong correlations. Correlations for the seven subdomains were good (range: 0.778–1.000). The same was true for the total DES score (ICC: 0.944). Correlations for response to term-time stress were weaker and more varied. Validity analyses revealed fair correlations between the DES and students' self-assessment (Pearson's r = .592) and DASS score (Pearson's r = .392), suggesting satisfactory validity. Stress levels were quite similar between baseline and follow-up.

Conclusion

The German DES is a reliable tool for evaluating stress in dental students. Because it can be used to identify individual stressors in various categories, it might enable the detection of specific stress situations in educational situations and facilitate solutions (adjustment of curricula, tailored consulting services).     

Effects of TM6SF2 rs58542926 polymorphism on hepatocellular lipids and insulin resistance in early type 2 diabetes

Background and aimsIncreased hepatocellular lipid content (HCL) is linked to insulin resistance, risk of type 2 diabetes and related complications. Conversely, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (TM6SF2^EK; rs58542926) in the transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2-gene has been associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but lower cardiovascular risk. This case-control study tested the role of this polymorphism for tissue-specific insulin sensitivity during early course of diabetes.Methods and resultsMales with recent-onset type 2 diabetes with (TM6SF2^EK: n = 16) or without (TM6SF2^EE: n = 16) the heterozygous TM6SF2-polymorphism of similar age and body mass index, underwent Botnia-clamps with [6,6-²H₂]glucose to measure whole-body-, hepatic- and adipose tissue-insulin sensitivity. HCL was assessed with ¹H-magnetic-resonance-spectroscopy. A subset of both groups (n = 24) was re-evaluated after 5 years. Despite doubled HCL, TM6SF2^EK had similar hepatic- and adipose tissue-insulin sensitivity and 27% higher whole-body-insulin sensitivity than TM6SF2^EE. After 5 years, whole-body-insulin sensitivity, HCL were similar between groups, while adipose tissue-insulin sensitivity decreased by 87% and 55% within both groups and circulating triacylglycerol increased in TM6SF2^EE only.ConclusionsThe TM6SF2-polymorphism rs58542926 dissociates HCL from insulin resistance in recent-onset type 2 diabetes, which is attenuated by disease duration. This suggests that diabetes-related metabolic alterations dominate over effects of the TM6SF2-polymorphism during early course of diabetes and NAFLD.     

Establishment of the German Burn Registry - five years of prospective data collection

BackgroundFrom 1991–2014, all major burn centers of the German-speaking countries participated in a multicenter study in which essentially demographic data were collected. Individual patient data was located at the particular burn centers and only cumulated data were summarized annually for presentation. Retrospective statistical analysis of the entire data collection and identification of subgroups was not possible. In 2015 the German Burn Registry was established for prospective collection of individual patient data as a tool for quality management (QM) and for scientific analyses.MethodsA working group was formed to ensure the development and administration of the registry. From the official start of the German Burn Registry at the beginning of the year 2015 prospective data collection was realized with an individualized, web-based data collection software in a pseudonymized way. Selected data analysis was performed for the first 5 years of data collection. Severely burned adults and all hospitalized children with burn injuries were documented in the registry.ResultsThe German Burn Registry was successfully established. 64 burn divisions have already been registered. 18,891 patients were documented over 5 years, of which 58% where children (<16 years). Mean ABSI Score was 4 (children: 3, adults: 6) with a mortality rate of 3.8.0% (children: 0.2%, adults: 9.3%). Children were hospitalized for an average of 7 days, whereas adults were discharged after 18 days.ConclusionA registry is mandatory for quality assurance in burn medicine, since realization of randomized studies is difficult due to the heterogeneity of burn injuries. The German Burn Registry already is one of the biggest burn registries in Europe. Several scientific projects, based on the registry database, are in working process or have already been published.