Martin Kuchar

University of Chemistry and Technology | VSCHT · Department of Chemistry of Natural Compounds

The recent surge in popularity of cannabidiol-infused products extends beyond food and supplements to the cosmetic industry. Accurate labeling remains a significant concern, as many products fail to meet advertised cannabidiol content and/or contain psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol above the permissible levels. In this work, we present the use of...

Due to the typical production of Cannabis sativa L. for medical use in an artificial environment, it is crucial to optimize environmental and nutritional factors to enhance cannabinoid yield and quality. While the effects of light intensity and nutrient composition on plant growth are well-documented for various crops, there is a relative lack of r...

Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who seek treatment show highly variable outcomes. A precision medicine approach with biomarkers responsive to new treatments is warranted to overcome this limitation. Promising biomarkers relate to prefrontal control mechanisms that are severely disturbed in AUD. This results in reduced inhibitory control of...

Background Recent studies have intensively explored the potential antidepressant effects of psilocybin. However, important variables such as previous experience, repeated administration, setting and sex remain underexplored. This study describes the acute psilocybin experience and long-term effects in a small sample of healthy individuals. Methods...

Background: Recent evidence suggests that psychedelics are able to induce rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects. The generally acknowledged explanation for these traits is the phenomenon of neuroplasticity, although exact underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Aims: This study investigates selected neuroplastic effects of psilocin,...

Background: Activation of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) in the nervous system modulates the processing of acute and chronic pain. CB1R activity is regulated by desensitization and internalization. SH3-containing GRB2-like protein 3-interacting protein 1 (SGIP1) inhibits the internalization of CB1R. This causes increased and prolonged association of...

The Cannabis sativa plant has been used for centuries as a recreational drug and more recently in the treatment of patients with neurological or psychiatric disorders. In many instances, treatment goals include relief from posttraumatic disorders, anxiety, or to support treatment of chronic pain. Ligands acting on cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) are...

The emergence of new synthetic cathinones continues to be a matter of public health concern. In fact, already known products (drugs) are being rapidly replaced by new structurally related alternatives, whereby modifications in the basic cathinone structure are used by manufacturers to circumvent the legislation. On the other hand, some derivatives...

Current treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) show large heterogeneity in response and thus limited effectiveness and high relapse rates. A precision medicine approach with biomarkers responsive to new treatments is warranted to overcome this limitation. Promising biomarkers relate to prefrontal control mechanisms that are severely disturbed in...

The growing consumption of drugs of abuse together with the inefficiency of the current wastewater treatment plants toward their presence has resulted in an emergent class of pollutants. Thus, the development of alternative approaches to remediate this environmental threat is urgently needed. Microrobots, combining autonomous motion with great tuna...

The sulfonamide function is used extensively as a general building block in various inhibitory scaffolds and, more specifically, as a zinc-binding group (ZBG) of metalloenzyme inhibitors. Here, we provide biochemical, structural, and computational characterization of a metallopeptidase in complex with inhibitors, where the mono- and bisubstituted s...

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) adversely affects the lives of millions of people, but still lacks effective treatment options. Recent advancements in psychedelic research suggest psilocybin to be potentially efficacious for AUD. However, major knowledge gaps remain regarding (1) psilocybin’s general mode of action and (2) AUD-specific alterations of re...

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) adversely affects the lives of millions of people, but still lacks effective treatment options. Recent advancements in psychedelic research suggest psilocybin to be potentially efficacious for AUD. However, major knowledge gaps remain regarding (1) psilocybin's general mode of action and (2) AUD-specific alterations of re...

Introduction: An altered neurodevelopmental trajectory associated with prenatal exposure to ∆-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) leads to aberrant cognitive processing through a perturbation in the effectors of hippocampal plasticity in the juvenile offspring. As adolescence presents a unique window of opportunity for “brain reprogramming”, we aimed at a...

Alcohol binge drinking is common among adolescents and may challenge the signalling systems that process affective stimuli, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) signalling. Here, we employed a rat model of adolescent binge drinking to evaluate reward-, social- and aversion-related behaviour, glucocorticoid output and CGRP levels in affe...

Ghrelin je hormon, který u člověka podporuje chuť k jídlu, a je proto někdy označován jako „hormon hladu“. V lidském organismu se váže na receptor GHS-R1a, což vede k uvolňování růstového hormonu. Sektretagoga růstového hormonu (growth hormone secretagogues, GHSs) jsou skupina látek, které interagují s receptorem GHS-R1a podobně jako ghrelin, a pod...

Introduction Psilocybin is one of the most extensively studied psychedelic drugs with a broad therapeutic potential. Despite the fact that its psychoactivity is mainly attributed to the agonism at 5-HT2A receptors, it has high binding affinity also to 5-HT2C and 5-HT1A receptors and indirectly modulates the dopaminergic system. Psilocybin and its a...

Psilocybin is investigated as a fast-acting antidepressant used in conjunction with psychotherapy. Intact cognitive functions, including memory, are one of the basic conditions of effective psychedelic-assisted therapy. While cognitive and memory processing is attenuated on various domains during psilocybin intoxication, the effect of psilocybin on...

Recently, the number of structural modifications of synthetic cathinones has been growing making them the second largest group of new psychoactive substances in Europe. Although they are abused because of their various psychoactive effects, some compounds from this group also serve as pharmaceuticals. Since synthetic cathinones are chiral molecules...

An increasing number of products containing synthetic cannabinoids pose a growing crisis to public health worldwide. Recently, a rising number of cases of serious adverse health effects, intoxications, and death cases associated with synthetic cannabinoids were reported. The current study represents the comprehensive structural analysis of three ne...

Introduction: N-2-methoxy-benzylated (“NBOMe”) analogues of phenethylamine are a group of new psychoactive substances (NPS) with reported strong psychedelic effects in sub-milligram doses linked to a number of severe intoxications, including fatal ones. In our present work, we provide a detailed investigation of pharmacokinetics and acute behaviour...

Na celosvětovém trhu dochází k rapidnímu nárůstu padělaných farmak na léčbu erektilní dysfunkce, které jsou k dostání pouze na lékařský předpis. Obsah jejich účinné látky bývá několikrát překročen, nebo účinná látky zcela chybí. Tyto padělky obsahují nejrůznější příměsi a doposud neprostudované strukturní deriváty původních sloučenin, což představu...

Previous evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to THC (pTHC) derails the neurodevelopmental trajectories towards a vulnerable phenotype for impaired emotional regulation and limbic memory. Here we aimed to investigate pTHC effect on hippocampus-related cognitive functions and markers of neuroplasticity in adolescent male offspring. Wistar rats w...

Adolescent exposure to cannabinoids as a postnatal environmental insult may increase the risk of psychosis in subjects exposed to perinatal insult, as suggested by the two-hit hypothesis of schizophrenia. Here, we hypothesized that peripubertal Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (aTHC) may affect the impact of prenatal methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) or per...

This work presents a potentiometric approach for the detection of two cathinone derivatives, namely mephedrone (4‐MMC) and clephedrone (4‐CMC). Contrary to neutral‐carriers (dibenzo‐18‐crown‐6‐ether and calix[4]arene), cation‐exchanger (tetraphenylborate sodium) as active component of ion‐selective membrane showed near‐Nernstian response (+47 mV/de...

Methoxphenidine was originally patented for its properties to treat neurotoxic injury. However, due to the side effects, it failed to become pharmaceutic and later reappeared on the black market among...

After cannabis, the most commonly used illicit substance worldwide is amphetamine and its derivatives, such as methamphetamine, with an ever-increasing number of synthetic modifications. Thus, fast and reliable methods are...

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemics showed the need for the effective decontamination of environment and surfaces. One of the options could be the use of gas ozone. Ozone has been well known for its disinfection properties, which were in the past used to decontaminate water. In this article, we present a development of an easy-made and ready-to-use port...

New psychoactive substances and among them synthetic cathinones represent a significant threat to human health globally. However, within such a large pool of substances derived from a natural compound ((S)-cathinone), substances with important pharmaceutical uses can be identified, as already documented by bupropione. Therefore, this work aimed to...

Since not only psilocybin (PSB) but also PSB-containing mushrooms are used for psychedelic therapy and microdosing, it is necessary to know their concentration variability in wild-grown mushrooms. This article aimed to determine the PSB, psilocin (PS), baeocystin (BA), norbaeocystin (NB), and aeruginascin (AE) concentrations in a large sample set o...

Classified as an adaptogen, Maral root (Rhaponticum carthamoides, Leuzea carthamoides) is a herb that has long been used in Siberian as well as Russian alternative medicine. With over 200 substances found, this plant is a great source of bioactive compounds which have significant beneficial effects on human health and physical enhancement. Simultan...

Background Alcohol binge drinking may compromise the functioning of the nucleus accumbens (NAc), i.e. the neural hub for processing reward and aversive responses. Methods As socially stressful events pose particular challenges at developmental stages, this research applied the resident–intruder paradigm as a model of social stress, to highlight be...

Rationale: Serotonergic psychedelics are being studied as novel treatments for mental health disorders and as facilitators of improved well-being, mental function, and creativity. Recent studies have found mixed results concerning the effects of low doses of psychedelics ("microdosing") on these domains. However, microdosing is generally investiga...

N-(2-methoxybenzyl)phenethylamines (NBOMes) are a family of potent 5-HT2A agonists containing substances emerging on the illicit drug market as a replacement for N,N-diethyllysergamide (LSD). Despite the increasing use of NBOMes for diagnostic, research and recreational purposes, only a limited number of studies have focussed on their in vivo effec...

Aim Novel benzodiazepines, emerged on the recreational drug market in past few years, have caused serious problems in many countries, including intoxications and fatalities. Not only, that limited information is still available on their dosage, the situation may be even more complicated if a combination of these designer drugs occurs. Method For i...

Aim Ostarine, also called enobosarm or MK-2866, is one of the Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs). A number of preclinical data suggest the beneficial use of these substances to increase muscle mass growth and bone density. Unlike anabolic steroids, they have suppressed androgenic side effects and are therefore thought to be useful in th...

Aim Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are a group of organic pollutants, which have negative effect on the hormonal systems of organism. For example, they can be toxic for the hormonal systems in fish, resulting in decrease in fertility. Conventional wastewater treatment is not successful in removal of EDs, therefore heterogenous photocatalysis is studied...

Aim Deschloroketamine (DCK), a structural analogue of ketamine, has recently emerged on the illicit drug market as a recreational drug with a modestly long duration of action. Despite it being widely used by recreational users, no systematic research on its effects has been performed to-date. For this reason, we investigated the pharmacokinetic, ph...

Aim Frequent detection of antibiotics in aquatic environment represents a global ecologic problem due to the fact, that these compounds are not fully biodegradable during conventional purification processes in wastewater treatment plants. The presence of antibiotics cause that the bacteria present in water and in animal or human bodies build resist...

Aim The increasing prevalence of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) on the drug market exerts considerable pressure on the development of novel detection techniques, especially those suitable for analyses directly on a crime scene. Raman and IR spectroscopy usually fulfil such needs; however, they have limitations (e.g. fluorescence in Raman and som...

Aim Methoxphenidine (MXP) is new psychoactive substance belonging to the group of dissociative anesthetics. It appeared on the black market in 2013, and MXP intoxications have been reported with at least three deaths since then. To understanding the mechanism of toxicity and effects of MXP, it is important to know its pharmacological properties (e....

Aim Methoxphenidine (MXP) belongs among dissociative anesthetics from the group of new psychoactive substances. According to the unofficial user experiences, MXP is less active than common dissociative anesthetics like ketamine, yet, several intoxications were associated with this substance up to this date. Within our previous work, we discovered t...

The objective of this prospective study was to examine the exposure to the main active metabolites of ciprofloxacin in critically ill patients and to examine the factors (demographic, laboratory and genetic) that could potentially affect the drug metabolic conversion of ciprofloxacin. The secondary aim was to develop a population pharmacokinetic mo...

The use of low sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics (“microdosing”) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies severely limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in standard laboratory settings...

Psilocybin is a classical serotoninergic psychedelic that induces cognitive disruptions similar to psychosis. Gamma activity is affected in psychosis and is tightly related to cognitive processing. The 40 Hz auditory steady-state responses (ASSR) are frequently used as indicators to test the ability to generate gamma activity. Based on previous lit...

Contactless digital tags are increasingly penetrating into many areas of human activities. Digitalization of our environment requires an ever growing number of objects to be identified and tracked with machine-readable labels. Molecules offer immense potential to serve for this purpose, but our ability to write, read, and communicate molecular code...

There is an increased societal trend to engage in microdosing, in which small sub-hallucinogenic amounts of psychedelics are consumed on a regular basis. Following subjective reports that microdosing enhances the experience of nature and art, in the present study we set out to study the effects of psilocybin microdosing on feelings of awe and art p...

Serotonergic psychedelics are being studied as novel treatments for mental health disorders and as facilitators of improved well-being, mental function and creativity. Recent studies have found mixed results concerning the effects of low doses of psychedelics (microdosing) on these domains. However, microdosing is generally investigated using instr...

The black market for new psychoactive substances has been constantly evolving and the substances that appear on this market cause a considerable number of issues, in extreme cases leading to human deaths. While monitoring the drug black market, we detected a sample of a dissociative anesthetic methoxphenidine, the salt of which contained an unusual...

Background Microdoses of psychedelics (i.e. a sub-hallucinogenic dose taken every third day) can reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress according to anecdotal reports and observational studies. Research with medium to high doses of psilocybin points towards potential underlying mechanisms, including the modulation of emotion and interoce...

Kynurenic acid is a neuroprotective metabolite of tryptophan formed by kynurenine aminotransferase (KAT) catalyzed transformation of kynurenine. However, its high brain levels are associated with cognitive deficit and with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Although several classes of KAT inhibitors have been published, the search for new inhibi...

The use of low sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics (microdosing) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in laboratory settings might fail to c...

Naphyrone, also known as NRG-1, is a novel psychoactive substance (NPS), a cathinone with stimulatory properties available on the grey/illicit drug market for almost a decade. It is structurally related to infamously known powerful stimulants with the pyrovalerone structure, such as alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP) or methylenedioxypyrovalero...

Breast milk analysis provides useful information about acute newborn exposure to harmful substances, such as psychoactive drugs abused by a nursing mother. Since breast milk represents a complex matrix with large amounts of interfering compounds, a comprehensive sample pre-treatment is necessary. This work focuses on determination of amphetamines a...

Compounds from the N-benzylphenethylamine (NBPEA) class of novel psychoactive substances are being increasingly utilized in neurobiological and clinical research, as diagnostic tools, or for recreational purposes. To understand the pharmacology, safety, or potential toxicity of these substances, elucidating their metabolic fate is therefore of the...

The consumption of psychoactive substances is a worldwide problem and the sheer number of their seizures is alarming. These substances also include the synthetic drug 3,4–methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy, which is very often abused and widespread around the world. The number of ecstasy tablet seizures testifies to th...