454 YOUNGKEN, JR. 



a "vasodepressor" center. At any rate, this direct depression action on the 

 central nervous system and the reduced action on peripheral vasoconstriction 

 form the basis for the medical use of these compounds in hypertension. 



Ergot alkaloids, for example, ergonovine, have been the chief chemical 

 sources for the synthesis (and probably biosynthesis) of an indole acid known 

 as lysergic acid. This acid is found in the crude drug, but it has had only 

 academic interest up until a few years ago. An amide derivative, known as 

 lysergic acid diethylamide, has been prepared from lysergic acid, and this 

 derivative has been shown to have marked stimulating and, later, depressant 

 effects on the higher brain centers. Effects are produced by extremely small 

 doses, for example, 0.25-mg. doses, in humans. Visual perception is greatly 

 altered, and marked hallucinations occur. More important, however, is the 

 depressant effect of this drug on the mind. Humans are reported to respond 

 as though in a hypnotized state and to reveal events which might otherwise 

 be retained as guarded secrets. Human subjects are reduced mentally to 

 placid followers of the slightest persuasion. A very startling account of the 

 actions of this new drug have been vividly described in the Canadian magazine 

 McLeans, in October, 1953. The article is entitled "My Twelve Hours as a 

 Madman" by Sidney Katz. The military applications of such a compound 

 are far-reaching. There are strong indications that lysergic acid diethylamide 

 (LSD-25) has already been put to military and political use by some foreign 

 nations. 



3. Investigations of certain biochemical and physiological roles 

 played by drug-plant constituents within organisms producing them. 

 This area of research has been of recent interest in medicine. It involves an 

 application of principles of plant and animal biochemistry and physiology 

 in a special kind of way. Researches in pharmaceutical and medical sciences, 

 such as pharmacognosy and pharmacology, have recently become more in- 

 tensive in this direction. Although details of this field of research will not be 

 discussed here, it might be mentioned that considerable practical application 

 can arise in medicine from the knowledge of cellular biochemistry. The ex- 

 planation of the chemical effects of drugs on cellular function and, in turn, 

 the tissues is often made clear when one can understand how and under what 

 conditions an animal-gland constituent is formed biosynthetically. This is 

 somewhat applicable to plant cells, for the knowledge of the chemical path- 

 ways and reactions by which constituents are formed in plants has potential 

 value in: (1) Contributing to the complete chemical synthesis of a natural 

 product. (2) Understanding the relationships of certain chemical structures to 

 the physiology of the cell. For, indeed, the essential metabolites of plant cells 

 are generally the same as for animal cells. It is often easier to demonstrate 

 a biochemical response to a drug in certain lower plants (yeast, bacteria, etc.) 

 on the cellular level than in laboratory animals. (3) Improving natural- 

 product production by adding selective chemical precursors to plant-growth 



