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Plant-based drugs of abuse are as old as recorded human history. Although traditional addictive substances, such as opium, cannabis and coca, have been controlled by the United Nations anti-drug conventions, many, if not most, natural plants with addictive or abuse liability remain elusive. Therefore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned the emerging threat from new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are mostly derived or modified from the constituents of natural origin. For example, synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones are derived from the cannabis and khat plant, respectively. In this review, we briefly discussed the chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of five common NPS of natural origin, i.e., khat, kratom, salvia, magic mushroom and mandrake. Through the review, we hope that professionals and general public alike can pay more attention to the potential problems caused by natural NPS, and suitable control measures will be taken.

Malaria is one of the most important infectious tropical diseases. Rapid and accurate diagnostics are the basis of therapeutic care for most febrile patients in field clinics and health centers where novel molecular techniques have overcome sensitivity and specificity limitations. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel molecular method for rapid DNA target amplification with high specificity in isothermal conditions. LAMP provides a simple and rapid diagnostic tool for the early detection and species-specific identification of Plasmodium parasites using the read-out of the LAMP with the naked eye in the field, with no requirement for expensive thermal cyclers. LAMP is readily applicable to clinical diagnosis and active surveillance of malaria parasites in reference laboratories and research centers of endemic countries as a new alternative molecular diagnostic solution. This article summarizes current technical developments, applications, limitations and the future prospects for malaria diagnosis using LAMP in developed countries and endemic areas.

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