Frank Pulido-Criollo

Background/Objectives: Anxiety and depression are leading causes of disability worldwide. Although current pharmaceuticals are effective, adverse effects reduce adherence, driving the search for alternatives in traditional plant-based medicine. This article analyzes ancient Mesoamerican codices and documents to identify candidate plants, establishing a baseline for pharmacological validation and potential treatment development. Methods: This narrative review analyzes and synthesizes data from specialized databases and physical libraries in Spanish and English. Results: Plants described in Mesoamerican codices demonstrate anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects in preclinical models, linked to phytochemicals such as sterols, flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenes. Mechanisms appear to involve oxytocinergic cells; the GABAergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic systems; BDNF activation; and monoamine oxidase regulation. Although translation is complicated by uncertainties in historical interpretation, botanical identification, and reproducibility, these studies remain essential for identifying natural products to inform future drug discovery. Conclusions: Analyzing ancient Mesoamerican medical records helps identify plants with anxiolytic and antidepressant potential. However, characterizing their pharmacokinetic, toxicological, and neurochemical profiles is required before proposing clinical trials to ensure patient safety.

Ancient cultures have long studied plants for medicinal use. Today, multidisciplinary research focuses on re-evaluating these plants to discover drugs for treating various diseases, including psychiatric disorders. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures described three plants (Montanoa tomentosa, Montanoa frutescens, and Montanoa grandiflora) for treating both anxiety and depression disorders, which were called cihuapahtli in Nahuatl. This narrative review describes and analyzes the ethnobotanical use and phytochemical, pharmacological, behavioral, and toxicological effects of cihuapahtli, which can contribute to the discovery of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs. The results show a significant advance in identifying bioactive phytochemicals, including triterpenes, diterpenes, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes, as well as sterols, flavonoids, and alkaloids. In particular, the mechanism of action underlying their anxiolytic and antidepressant effects involves the activation of oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, as well as that of the GABAergic system by targeting GABA_A receptors. The three Montanoa species have the potential to help us develop anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs; however, future studies are still required to evaluate toxicity, dose standardization, possible variability in plant-derived compounds, pharmacokinetic parameters, and pharmacological interactions. Only then will preclinical evidence be sufficiently robust to justify translational studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of these plant extracts for the development of anxiolytic and antidepressant phytomedicines.

The objective of this paper is to describe and identify opportunities and threats of the legal environmental variable for tourism planning of religious products in San Mateo Yetla. Our design is qualitative and exploratory. The tools used were documentary analysis, semi-structured interview and field diary. Among the main results, we identified as an opportunity a legal framework that provides elements of interest for the promotion, development and security of religious tourism in the country, while, as a threat, the state legislative framework only defines the aforementioned modality without suggesting strategies for its development. This study has the limitation of presenting only the analysis of a macro variable of a large multilevel analysis framework; while its value resides in the legislative review on the subject, since its consultation can be useful to evaluate the limitations of its practical application in different contexts. It is concluded that the analysis of environmental variables for tourism planning is of interest, as well as the usefulness of PESTEL analysis as a tool for this purpose. El objetivo de este artículo es describir e identificar oportunidades y amenazas de la variable medioambiental legal para la planeación turística de productos religiosos en San Mateo Yetla. El diseño es cualitativo y exploratorio. Las herramientas empleadas son el análisis documental, la entrevista semiestructurada y el diario de campo. Entre los principales resultados, se identifica como oportunidad un marco jurídico que aporta elementos de interés para la promoción, el fomento y la seguridad del turismo religioso en México; mientras, como amenaza, el marco legislativo estatal sólo define la modalidad aludida sin sugerir estrategias para su desarrollo. La limitante de este estudio consiste en que presenta sólo el análisis de una variable macro de un marco de análisis mayor multinivel. En tanto, su valor reside en el examen legislativo en la materia, pues la consulta de éste puede ser de utilidad para evaluar las limitaciones de su aplicación práctica en diversos contextos. Se concluye que es de interés el análisis de variables medioambientales para la planeación de la actividad turística, así como de utilidad el análisis PESTEL como herramienta para tal efecto.