Ayahuasca
as Vermifuge
Banisteriopsis
caapi (Malpighiaceae)
Ayahuasca, caapi, kahpi, yagé, natema, mihi, and dapa are all terms for the visionary drink prepared by boiling the bark of the neotropical rainforest lianas, Banisteriopsis caapi or B. inebrians with the leaves of the chacruna shrub, Psychotria viridis, Diplopterys cabrerana (= Banisteriopsis rusbyana), and/or other admixture plants. The drink has been traditionally used by the indigenous people of the upper Amazon and Orinoco rivers for perhaps millennia.The psychoactive substances in the ayahuasca vine belong to the beta-carboline class of alkaloids. They are harmaline, harmine, and tetrahydroharmine. Other medicinal biochemicals may also be present. Leaves from the chacruna tree, Psychotria viridis , leaves from the malpighigian vine Diplopterys cabrerana (= Banisteriopsis rusbyana), and some other admixture plants contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a potent visionary substance found widely in the plant and animal kingdom. The effects of orally-ingested DMT are strongly potentiated by the monoamine oxidase inhibition facilitated by the beta-carbolines.
Current research on the pharmacological effects of beta-carbolines and ayahuasca are being undertaken by research groups at the University of California at Los Angeles as part of the Hoasca Project.
It is an acknowledged fact that visionary use of Ayahuasca by the indigenous people of tropical America has a long history and is integral in their culture. During native ceremonies, repeated references are made to the cleansing and purifying properties of these healing plants.
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests the use of isoquinoline and tryptamine-related alkaloids such as the beta-carbolines is effective in the control of intestinal parasitic worms and microbes by forest-dwelling people.
Because these compounds are not only entheogenic, but also powerful emetics with antimicrobial and antihelminthic properties, it is suspected that the use of ayahuasca is more than vision seeking; it is also chemotherapy for parasites. The mode of this antihelminthic action is believed to be related to the similarity in structure of serotonin to the beta-carboline alkaloids.
It is possible that these indole alkaloids are antagonists of serotonin in intestinal worm metabolism but little comparative data is available. Research is currently underway.
It appears that modern science is slowly confirming what indigenous people have known for a long time; that Ayahuasca is indeed a quintessential holistic "Medicina de la Selva."
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