Beta-Carbolines

β-Carboline, also known as norharman or as '9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole', is a tricyclic chemical compound and alkaloid. It is the parent structure of the substituted β-carbolines, a large group of alkaloids and synthetic compounds. β-Carboline may be thought of as a cyclized tryptamine. The compound has been found to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, including DNA mutagenic effects, imidazoline receptor interactions, serotonin reuptake inhibition, monoamine oxidase inhibition, cytochrome P450 enzyme inhibition, and inhibition of other enzymes, among others.

Harmine, also known as banisterine or telepathine, as well as 7-methoxyharman or 7-methoxy-1-methyl-β-carboline, is a β-carboline and a harmala alkaloid which has hallucinogenic effects and monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) activity. It occurs in a number of different plants, most notably Peganum harmala and Banisteriopsis caapi. Harmine reversibly inhibits monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), an enzyme which breaks down monoamines, making it a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA). Harmine does not inhibit MAO-B.

Harmaline, also known as 7-methoxyharmalan or as 3,4-dihydro-7-methoxy-1-methyl-β-carboline, is a harmala alkaloid and β-carboline which has hallucinogenic effects and monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) activity. It is the partly hydrogenated form of harmine.

Harmane, or harman, also known as 1-methyl-β-carboline, is a heterocyclic amine and β-carboline found in a variety of foods including coffee, sauces, and cooked meat. It is also present in tobacco smoke.

Metralindole (Inkazan) is a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA) which was investigated in Russia as a potential antidepressant. It is structurally and pharmacologically related to pirlindole.

Harmalol is a bioactive β-carboline and a member of the harmala alkaloids.

ZK-93426 (ethyl-5-isopropoxy-4-methyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate) is a drug from the β-carboline family. It acts as a weak partial inverse agonist of benzodiazepine receptors, meaning that it causes the opposite effects to the benzodiazepine class of drugs and has anxiogenic properties, although unlike most benzodiazepine antagonists it is not a convulsant and actually has weak anticonvulsant effects. In human tests it produced alertness, restlessness and feelings of apprehension, and reversed the effect of the benzodiazepine lormetazepam. It was also shown to produce nootropic effects and incr

FG-7142 (ZK-31906) is a drug of the β-carboline family which acts as a partial inverse agonist at the benzodiazepine allosteric site of the GABAA receptor. It has anorectic, anxiogenic and pro-convulsant effects. It also increases release of acetylcholine and noradrenaline, and improves memory retention in animal studies.

DMCM (methyl 6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate) is a drug from the β-carboline family that induces anxiety and convulsions by acting as a negative allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors — functionally opposite to benzodiazepines and related drugs which are positive allosteric modulators — and is used in scientific research for these properties to test new anxiolytic and anticonvulsant medications, respectively. It has also been shown to produce analgesic effects in animals, which is thought to be the drug's induced panic reducing the perception of pain.

Lavendamycin is a naturally occurring chemical compound discovered in fermentation broth of the soil bacterium Streptomyces lavendulae. Lavendamycin has antibiotic properties and anti-proliferative effects against several cancer cell lines. The use of lavendamycin as a cytotoxic agent in cancer therapy failed due to poor water solubility and non-specific cytotoxicity. The study of lavendamycin-based analogs designed to overcome these liabilities has been an area of research.

Abecarnil (developmental code name ZK-112,119) is an anxiolytic drug from the β-carboline family. It is one of a relatively recently developed class of medicines known as the nonbenzodiazepines, which have similar effects to the older benzodiazepine group, but with quite different chemical structures. It is a partial agonist acting selectively at the benzodiazepine site of the GABAA receptor.