Good article. If kratom could be used as a substitute to modern antipsychotics (zyprexa, risperdal, haldol), I'm all for it. So many awful, awful side effects. But I have my doubts of how effective kratom would be during a major psychotic break. Maybe more or a maintenance thing..but that's just my instinct. These are still very preliminary findings, but it's awesome it's being studied, and continues to be studied by that very lab as stated in the conclusion.
A few things I found interesting in this quite lengthy article:
They used kratom from Malaysia - not Indonesia, washed under tap water, then left to dry for two weeks. Then they soaked it in methanol for 20 hours, and used further processes to evaporate the methanol and create the extract.
Has anyone noticed this?? - " It has also been observed that the long-term consumption of M. speciosa leaf darkened the skin although the user remained indoors. The claim for the darker skin of habitual user of M. speciosa leaf is intriguing and suggested that it could be due to combination of psychoactive properties and molecular structure of mitragynine."
I had no idea this took place! I wonder if I'm developing a Mitra-tan.
Also of interest:
"Methanolic extract of Mitragyna speciosa at higher doses did not alleviate both positive and negative symptoms of psychosis in mice. The clinical efficacy of all approved typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs are mainly mediated by blocking post-synaptic D2 receptors in the brain.....Thus, there is a possibility that MMS (MMS is used in this article as shorthand for M. speciosa extract) at higher doses could block pre-synaptic D2 receptors thereby stimulate the release of dopamine and lose its antipsychotic effect."
So too much kratom can actually be negative in the treatment of psychosis.
...."Therefore, it is hypothesized that antipsychotic-like effect of MMS could be mediated by its main bioactive constituent, mitragynine."
Kratom - it continues to surprise.