Sinicuichi

The leaves are wilted and left to ferment in water in the sun, and the juice is drunk for its gently intoxicating, relaxing effects. Users describe a dreamy euphoria, drowsiness, and changes in hearing, with sounds seeming muffled or distant, sometimes with a shift in pitch. The drink is also said to stir old memories.

In Mexico and parts of South America it is used in traditional medicine and religious rites to bring on mild auditory and visual effects ^{17Reference 17GrahamGraham, S. A. (n.d.). Heimia salicifolia — species description, habitat and distribution; and genus Heimia. In Flora of North America, Vol. 10 (Lythraceae). eFloras. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220006152View study →}. The name “sun opener” refers to the sunlit preparation and the mellow quality the drink is said to bring.

As a medicine, the aerial parts are used against syphilis, to induce sweating, to bring down fever, as a laxative and as a diuretic ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}. They are also used as a strong anti-inflammatory, as a sleep aid and for healing wounds, and are added to post-partum baths ^{1,17Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →Reference 17GrahamGraham, S. A. (n.d.). Heimia salicifolia — species description, habitat and distribution; and genus Heimia. In Flora of North America, Vol. 10 (Lythraceae). eFloras. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=220006152View study →}.

In Argentine folk medicine a boiling-water extract of the aerial parts is among the plants used against infection ^{16Reference 16Pérez et al. · 1994In vitroIn vitro antibacterial activity of Argentine folk medicinal plants against Salmonella typhi — in vitroView study →}.

Two of the plant’s alkaloids, cryogenine and nesodine, inhibited prostaglandin synthetase from bovine seminal vesicles about 2.5 and 2.2 times as potently as aspirin. Indomethacin was about 2,800 times as potent as aspirin in the same assay. The authors suggested the activity may help explain the plant’s folk use ^{3Reference 3Lema et al. · 1986In vitroProstaglandin synthetase inhibition by alkaloids of Heimia salicifolia — in vitroView study →}.

In animals, cryogenine reduced thermal paw oedema, croton-oil inflammation, cotton-pellet granuloma and adjuvant-induced arthritis ^{4,5,6,7,8Reference 4Kaplan et al. · 1967AnimalAnti-inflammatory evaluation of cryogenine — animal modelView study →Reference 5Malone et al. · 1973In vitroEvaluation of cryogenine on rat paw thermal oedema and rat isolated uterus — rat, in vitroView study →Reference 6Kosersky et al. · 1973AnimalEffects of cryogenine on adjuvant-induced arthritis and serum turbidity in rats — ratView study →Reference 7Byrne et al. · 1981Protective effects of cryogenine, lythrine and certain derivatives in croton oil induced inflammation — animalView study →Reference 8Omaye et al. · 1982AnimalEffects of selected anti-inflammatory agents and cryogenine on serum protein changes induced by cotton pellet granuloma in the rat — ratView study →}. Early pharmacology work characterised its anti-inflammatory profile ^{9,10Reference 9Robichaud et al. · 1964Pharmacodynamics of cryogenine, an alkaloid isolated from Heimia salicifoliaView study →Reference 10Robichaud et al. · 1965Pharmacodynamics of cryogenine, an alkaloid isolated from Heimia salicifoliaView study →}.

In rats with adjuvant arthritis, oral cryogenine at 100 mg/kg/day reduced the non-immune inflammation as well as phenylbutazone did. Unlike cyclophosphamide, it gave no protection against the later immune-mediated inflammation, so it acts as an anti-inflammatory rather than an immunosuppressant ^{11Reference 11Watson et al. · 1977AnimalEvaluation of immunosuppressive potential of cryogenine using developing and established adjuvant arthritis in rats — ratView study →}.

The review of this work notes that the effect depends partly on an intact pituitary–adrenal system and partly on prostaglandin-synthase inhibition ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}.

Gap: no human studies, no dose-ranging in the fermented brew, and potency far below standard anti-inflammatory drugs.

Early studies described a tranquillising (ataractic) action of cryogenine in animals that did not depend on depleting or blocking catecholamines ^{1,9,10Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →Reference 9Robichaud et al. · 1964Pharmacodynamics of cryogenine, an alkaloid isolated from Heimia salicifoliaView study →Reference 10Robichaud et al. · 1965Pharmacodynamics of cryogenine, an alkaloid isolated from Heimia salicifoliaView study →}. A comparative psychopharmacology study placed it alongside other centrally acting agents ^{12Reference 12Nucifora et al. · 1971Comparative psychopharmacologic investigation of cryogenine, certain non-steroid anti-inflammatory compounds, lupin alkaloids and cyproheptadine — animalView study →}, and a related study examined its action in rat sympathetic ganglia ^{13Reference 13Kosersky et al. · 1971AnimalEvaluation of cryogenine in rat sympathetic ganglia — ratView study →}.

In a 2008 forensic case, a 26-year-old man drank sinicuichi tea he had fermented for 24 hours with yeast and sugar. He came to hospital with muscle pain in his limbs and tongue and a slightly raised temperature, was treated, and was released the following afternoon. The five alkaloids found in the plant material were all detected in his serum ^{2Reference 2Kempf et al. · 2008Case reportIdentification of sinicuichi alkaloids in human serum after intoxication caused by oral intake of a Heimia salicifolia extract — case reportView study →}.

In a preliminary clinical evaluation, vertine (cryogenine) and lythrine taken by mouth appeared to lack the psychoactive effect attributed to native brews ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}.

Gap: the active principle of the traditional psychoactive effect has not been identified, isolated alkaloids do not reproduce it, and the only other human data is an uncontrolled case report.

Vertine relaxes many isolated tissues against several different agonists, and the effect appears to act largely on the muscle itself rather than through nerve receptors ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}.

On isolated rat uterus, cryogenine acted in part as a competitive inhibitor of synthetic bradykinin ^{5Reference 5Malone et al. · 1973In vitroEvaluation of cryogenine on rat paw thermal oedema and rat isolated uterus — rat, in vitroView study →}, and an in vitro study compared it with cyproheptadine and diphenhydramine as an antagonist of histamine and serotonin ^{14Reference 14Trottier et al. · 1969In vitroComparative in vitro evaluation of cryogenine, cyproheptadine, and diphenhydramine as antagonists of furtrethonium, histamine, and serotonin — in vitroView study →}.

The data come largely from one research programme and from isolated tissue only, with no live-animal or human confirmation.

Folk use includes a diuretic reputation. In animals, lythrine and decinine were shown to be true hydrodiuretics; decinine is a related alkaloid found in Decodon verticillatus, not in this plant ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}.

The review suggested they might prove useful in Addison’s disease and nephrosis ^{1Reference 1Malone et al. · 1994ReviewHeimia salicifolia: a phytochemical and phytopharmacologic review — reviewView study →}. The effect belongs to a minor alkaloid and a related-species alkaloid, in animals, and has not been studied in the whole herb.

A 2008 phytochemical study isolated nine alkaloids from Heimia salicifolia and found that vertine (cryogenine) and epi-lyfoline had moderate antimalarial activity in vitro ^{15Reference 15Rumalla et al. · 2008In vitroAlkaloids from Heimia salicifolia — in vitroView study →}.

This is a single in vitro result on isolated compounds, with no in vivo confirmation.

In a screen of 132 samples from Argentine folk-medicine plants, a boiling-water extract of Heimia salicifolia aerial parts was among the more active against Salmonella typhi by agar-well diffusion ^{16Reference 16Pérez et al. · 1994In vitroIn vitro antibacterial activity of Argentine folk medicinal plants against Salmonella typhi — in vitroView study →}.

This is a single crude-extract screen against one organism, with no identification of the active compound and no in vivo follow-up.

Human exposure. In the one documented case, a 26-year-old man drank sinicuichi tea he had fermented for 24 hours with yeast and sugar. He came to hospital with muscle pain in his limbs and tongue and a slightly raised temperature, was treated with dimenhydrinate, and was released the next afternoon. The plant’s alkaloids were confirmed in his serum ^{2Reference 2Kempf et al. · 2008Case reportIdentification of sinicuichi alkaloids in human serum after intoxication caused by oral intake of a Heimia salicifolia extract — case reportView study →}.

Sedation. The brew is reported to bring exhilaration, altered awareness, a slow heart rate, muscle relaxation and a pleasant faintness ^{2Reference 2Kempf et al. · 2008Case reportIdentification of sinicuichi alkaloids in human serum after intoxication caused by oral intake of a Heimia salicifolia extract — case reportView study →}. Do not combine it with alcohol or other sedatives, and do not drive after use. No drug-interaction or CYP study has been done.

A different “cryogénine”. 1950s reports of haemolytic anaemia from “cryogénine” refer to a synthetic fever drug of the same trade name (phenylsemicarbazide), not the Heimia alkaloid.