Synaptol ingredients

I have seen a new supplement advertised on the internet. It is called Synaptol. Maybe you've seen it. Here it is:

It is marketed to treat symptoms of ADD/ADHD. I wanted to know the mechanism of this product as it is not FDA regulated. So after some search I came across its ingredients. They are many and listed below:

Synaptol

Synaptol Ingredients: Official US Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Aconitum Ferox, Adrenalinum, Apis Mellifica, Argentum Nitricum, Avena Sativa, Baptisia Tinctoria, Cochlearia Armoracia, Medorrhinum, Phosphorus, Scutellaria Laterifolia, Sumbulus Moschatus, Viola Odorata

It seems to be marketed as a Homeopathic remedy. Interested as I am in plant based pharmaceuticals, I have put together a quick review of the ingredients taken from referenced sources Wiki, Pubmed, and various chemical databases.

So here we go...

Aconitum Ferox (aka wolfsbane) - perennial that is indigenous to India (West Bengal). Very poisonous!

Well known in Ayurvedic medicine - poison bikh, or bish, contains a alkaloid in the roots called pseudaconitine or nepaline pictured here:

Mechanism of action: cholinesterase inhibitor - keep in mind this is the same mechanism of action of approved Alzheimer's treatments donepezil and galantamine

Adrenalinum

Somewhat alarming, but it appears as though this ingredient adrenalinum is what I thought, epinephrine. For sale online by several different homeopathic remedy listings, this ingredient is treatment for "muscle pains" and marketed as "extract of suprarenal bodies". It does not mention whose suprarenal bodies.

Apis mellifica

apis (latin for bee), melli- (latin for "sweet", think diabetes mellitus), gound up honeybee. Used as therapy for bee stings, rashes, even carpal tunnel. The active ingredient in this preparation has not been isolated. Bee venom (which is sometimes removed from these preparations), out of curiosity (and off topic), is also called apitoxin, and is a combination of:

Apamin (pictured left)- blocks CNS and smooth muscle Ca++ activated K+ channels, so called SK channels. These channels control afterpolarizations, inhibiting them makes the neuron more excitable because presumably you reduce the neurons post-firing hyperpolarization. What is interesting about this compound is its potential therapeutic uses, including ataxia, epilepsy, memory disorders. SK channels are found in the hippocampus too!

Adolapin (not pictured) - an 11kD (103 AA residue) polypeptide found to be a potent anti-inflammatory (inhbits cat spleen cyclo-oxygenase) and analgesic. Isolated in 1982 by Shkenderov and Koburova. PMID7080045

Phopholipases

Hyauronidases - dilates and chews through capillary glycocalyx so toxins can spread.

Histamine!

Dopamine/norepinephrine

Non-specific protease inhibitors

Argentum Nitricum (silver nitrate)

Uses: antiseptic/antibiotic (think newborn baby drops!), however this compound is an oxidant and therefore corrosive/toxic and can lead to silver deposition and staining.

Avena Sativa - the common cereal oat. Its extract has medicinal uses that are many however mechanisms are not worked out. a short list includes, food ingredient, brewery, soluble fiber, improvement of cholesterol profile, increased libido. Its benefits are marketed without pharmacologic mechanisms.

Baptisia tinctoria

perennial wildflower, aka yellow wild indigo. used commercially as a dye, however extracts are also marketed for health purposes; stimulating healing and digestion, also reported to have antiviral properties. Active ingredients listed in marketing materials are:

cytisine - an alkaloid, a nictonic acetylcholine agonist

anagyrine - another alkaloid, a nicotinic acetylcholine agonist (found to have teratogenic effects in cattle, PMID 20116429),

genistein - an isoflavone (i.e. anti-oxidant), found in plants, getting a lot of attention as anti-tumor agent (has topoisomerase inhibitory action, as well as estrogen receptor agonism - see pubmed review PMID 21844907

Cochlearia Armoracia

well known as the horseradish plant, i tried to find any compounds within this plant that would have nervous system activity, but I have found that it is mainly its oils which can be broken into thiocyanates which become irritants and possess antibiotic activity. it can be used for sinusitis, and is also listed as a diuretic to treat UTI, although I need to dig more to find a mechansim, many of the primary literature is in German, and sadly mein Übersetzer verfolgt nur eine Richtung auf einmal. Very hardy, famous plant.

Medorrhinum

In homeopathy, where this ingredient originates, there exists the concept of nosodes. Nosodes, much like vaccines, are very small portions of diseased material introduced to the body by practitioner's of homeopathy in order to provoke a response to the larger threat, the quote, "like cures like". According the Materia Medica of the Nosodes by Henry Clay Allen MD, medorrhinum are "potencies made from the gonorrheal virus". Gonorrhea is in fact a bacterium. I really cannot find any reliable source (albeit a cursory search), on the composition of this ingredient. Do you want to surf a strange wave on the internet? Google medorrhinum.

Scutellaria Laterifolia - an herb, aka Blue/Virginian/Mad-dog Skullcap

this plant has been receiving a lot of attention, wikipedia provides a concise referenced summary, but in short- almost 300 pharmacologically active compounds have been identified in this plant. Many of them flavonoids (plant pigments), terpenes (a type of basic hydrocarbon C5H8- upon which more complex lipids are synthesized), and phenols. Among the functions listed of these are anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic (via benzodiazepine receptor binding site). Interesting, chrysin, pictured below, is a flavone (plant pigment) extract of this plant that was described to be an aromatase inhbitor in Science PMID: 6474163

Sumbulus Moschatus

seems to be homeopathic remedy, derived from a Eurasian plant Muskroot, another nosode, it is listed for many specific complaints which sound like neuropathy/nerve compression ("shooting tingling down arms") to possibly a-fib ("palpitations"), and according to Encyclopedia Britannica, believed to be similar to asafoetida, a dried root resin from the Ferula plant, an herb native to Iran and India. Either one of these plants are not well characterized. Sumbulus (muskroot) is definitely not well characterized.

and finally...

Viola Odorata

- well known as Sweet/English/Common/Garden Violet. Used in Ayurvedic medicine for sore throat/tonsilliits. Used primarily in perfumes and food colorings. The medicinal component of this plant may relate to anthocyanins (cyan- blue) a type of flavonoid which has been shown to have, anti tumor, anti inflammatory, anti oxidant acitivities. There are many papers published on the effects of anthocyanins, a complete review is not possible in this space. But to bring it back to Synaptol, this article PMID 20041802, out of Regenburg Germany, shows anthocyanins with affinity to cannabinoid receptors, moderate as the Ki for there top two anthocyanins (cyanidin and delphinidin) was between 16-23 uM (moderate) for the CB1.

Well, it seems that synaptol contains many active ingredients that in the right doses could amount to polypharmacy. There are known Ach esterase inhbitors, nAchR agonists, homogenized adrenals not otherwise specified, delayed Ca activated K+ channel inhibitors, "nosodes" (new term for me) of "the gonorrhea virus", possibly an aromatase inhibitor, GABA receptor agonists, potientially CB1 receptor agonists, possibly antibiotic compounds, and many many more still completely unknown, altogether in doses unknown. There is only one way to find out if this stuff works. I will sprinkle some into my friends morning coffee and observe him present on rounds. Just kidding, I am piqued enough to try some myself. I will report an anecdotal unbiased cognitive and physiological (vital signs) review of the effects Synaptol at some future point.

The problem with these products is that they have too many ingredients, it is impossible to sort out all of these different compounds and there many effects on all the body's systems. We'll see.