I have friends who act like they know something by using cholinergic agents other than nicotine.
They talk about ribbon worm toxin, Chinese snake venom, Indian tobacco weed… It’s ridiculous.
Those aren’t substitutes for nicotine; they’re a shortcut to permanently frying your brain’s circuitry.
In this fifteenth post of the Cholinergic System series, I’m going to dissect exactly why those stupid stunts are so dangerous, one by one.
Our brain’s cholinergic system is divided into two battlefields.
Muscarinic receptors and nicotinic receptors.
These two receive commands from the commander-in-chief, acetylcholine, but they operate in completely different ways.
The guys we’ll cover in this article are the external mercenaries infiltrating the battlefield called nicotinic receptors.
The first mercenary, Anabaseine.
It’s a toxin used by insignificant creatures like ribbon worms or ants.
It paralyzes insects or crustaceans, but fortunately, it has no direct paralyzing effect on vertebrates like us.
Instead, this bastard enters our body, binds to nicotinic receptors, and triggers the release of dopamine and norepinephrine.
Using this, some folks in Florida teamed up with a Japanese pharmaceutical company (probably Taisho) and created a derivative called GTS-21.
Its specialty is precision strikes on a specific zone called the alpha7 receptor.
This is a different approach from how the main infantry force, nicotine, primarily occupies the key stronghold of the alpha4 beta2 receptor.
So, they’re researching this for Alzheimer’s and ADHD, but this is where I stop understanding.
Focus and alertness are already proven, solid achievements demonstrated by nicotine via alpha4 beta2.
So why try to achieve the same effect by poking the rear base called alpha7? This is just armchair theory from guys who don’t know the basics of tactics.
The second mercenary is even more absurd.
Venom extracted from a viper called the Chinese Many-banded Krait.
This guy is also a sniper that only targets the alpha7 receptor, just like GTS-21.
They’ve used this to create an analog called SEN12333 and are researching it for everything from Alzheimer’s to schizophrenia.
The logic is that since the CHRNA7 gene is linked to schizophrenia, messing with the alpha7 receptor it governs should have an effect.
Since there’s a genetic-level connection, this at least makes some sense.
But remember this.
This is the realm of treatment, not performance enhancement.
The moment you mistakenly think this will make your brain better, you become a patient.
The last guy is the real problem.
Lobeline, derived from a plant called Indian tobacco.
This guy isn’t just a mercenary; he’s a double agent disrupting the battlefield and an uncontrollable berserker.
It acts 6 times weaker than nicotine on the alpha3 beta2 receptor, disguising itself as a friendly force.
But its real terror lies elsewhere.
It acts as a positive allosteric modulator for nicotine’s main base, the alpha4 beta2 receptor.
What this means is, it messes up the base’s defense system, making the gates swing wide open—meaning it becomes hypersensitive—even to small amounts of acetylcholine or nicotine.
But this guy’s true identity is something else entirely.
It promotes the secretion of dopamine and norepinephrine, and even inhibits dopamine reuptake.
Anyone who’s put their brain to work should instantly recognize what this means.
It means its mechanism of action is identical to cocaine and amphetamines.
And they say it wasn’t addictive in animal experiments?
That’s a joke even a stray dog would laugh at.
How is that any different from claiming cocaine injections aren’t addictive?
It’s even been reported to trigger serotonin release.
This is just insane, it’s starting a chemical war inside your brain.
They feed this drug to rodents and their depressive symptoms decrease and they drink less alcohol?
An obvious result.
If the brain is already saturated with a cocaine-like substance, why would it seek other pleasures?
Of course you feel good the moment you take drugs.
The very idea of developing this as a treatment for addiction is comical.
The conclusion is simple.
I am extremely conservative about drugs that directly mess with the dopamine and serotonin systems.
Once this system collapses, recovery is almost impossible.
If you don’t know what receptor downregulation is, don’t even think about touching them.
They’re ticking time bombs that permanently destroy your mental state and nervous system.
There’s a reason why antidepressants are developed as reuptake inhibitors, not direct agonists.
If you don’t understand the system, you’re just a slave to the drug.
There’s no reason to experiment on your brain with dubious little pieces of poison.
There are plenty of proven weapons out there that are better known, have been used in humans for decades, and have accumulated data.
The brain is on a whole different level from muscles that just get wrecked in the squat rack.
Once you fry it, it’s over.
True masters don’t gamble on the battlefield.
All variables must be controlled.
That’s the system.
If you think this is bullshit, go read the papers yourself.
Relevant Research Papers
1. Related to GTS-21 (DMXBA)
A study claiming that GTS-21, derived from ribbon worm toxin, can be used for Alzheimer’s disease treatment by targeting the brain’s ‘alpha7 nicotinic receptor’.
A paper so old it’s practically an ancient relic, over 20 years old.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11545643/
2. Overview of Alpha7 Receptor Targeting
An article summarizing why the alpha7 receptor is considered an important target in pharmacology and toxicology.
In short, it’s a warning statement showing how dangerous and sensitive this battlefield is.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3317711/
3. Related to SEN12333 (Chinese Snake Venom)
Claims that SEN12333, extracted from the potent venom of a Chinese snake, has cognitive improvement and neuroprotective effects.
This also ultimately targets alpha7, but it’s a therapeutic drug, not something for you guys to use to get smarter.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19223665/
4. Related to Lobeline (Indian Tobacco)
A paper that exposes the true identity of lobeline, which I called a double agent.
It explains its mechanism of messing with dopamine while spouting nonsense about using it to treat stimulant addiction.
The idea of using poison to fight poison.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11790484/
Reading this stuff a hundred times is useless.
If you don’t understand the system and prove it with your body, it’s just meaningless characters.
Remember, the battlefield is inside your body, not in the research papers.
