~ THE SCIENCE ~

The first person to analyse Kambo in a lab was an Italian pharmacologist and chemist, named Vittorio Erspamer.
In 1986, he concluded that Phyllomedusa Bicolor - the Kambo frog - contained a fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequalled by any other amphibian.
Research on these chemicals found in the secretion have given rise to over 70 patents being lodged in the pharmaceutical world, primarily in the United States, according to the IAKP.
These chemicals, are in fact, very potent peptides.

          What is a peptide?

Peptides are a fundamental part of nature, found in animals and humans alike. They're comprised of amino acids  just like proteins are. When peptide chains reach long lenghts (where more than 50 amino-acids are involved), they form proteins that are in turn, the building blocks for human and animal bodies.

 

The major peptides identified in the Kambo secretion include:

 ~ Phyllomedusin – strongly affects intestines, bowels,salivary gands and tear ducts and contributes to deep purging of toxins.

 ~ Phyllokinin  –  both potent vessel dilators, increasing the permeability of the blood-brain barrier helping with long lasting reduction in blood pressure

 ~ Phyllocaerulien and Dermorphin –  cause a fall in blood pressure accompanied by tachycardia, stimulating the adrenal cortex and the pituitary gland and contributing to heightened sensory perception and increased stamina.  These peptides have a strong analgesic effect, enhance endurance, increase physical strength, and in general, enhance the capacity to manage physical pain and stress.  They possess medical uses as digestive aids, and have demonstrated analgesic effects for those with renal colic, pain due to peripheral vascular insufficiency and cancer.

 ~ Tryptophyllins - found to be highly potent against the yeast Candida Albicans; are neuropeptides consisting of 4 to 14 amino acids, which are opening up new perspectives on how the human brain works.

 ~ Dermaseptin - potent antimicrobial activity against bacteria, yeast, fungi,protozoa, and viruses - including both HSV-1 and HIV-1.These peptides have shown destructive action against filamentous fungi responsible for debilitating infections which can accompany immuno-deficiency syndrome and the use of immuno-suppressive agents.

 ~ Adenoregulin (Dermaseptin B2) - has shown to be very effective in killing cancer cells and it seems that Adenoregulin receptors also hold potential for the targeted treatment of depression, stroke and cognitive decline, caused by Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease.

 ~ Deltorphin - could be considered amongst the most powerful pain killing substances ever discovered, with the highest binding affinity and selectivity to delta opioid receptors of any natural compound. Two Deltorphin peptides have been discovered in the secretion of Phyllomedusa Bicolor so far.

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Scientific research has identified the peptides dermorphin and deltorphin in kambo as potent opioid peptides. Opioids are pain killers and opioid peptides bind to receptors on human cells which trigger a pain masking response. Dermorphin and deltorphin are amazingly 4000 times stronger than morphine and 40 times stronger than b-endorphins which is the body’s natural pain killer .

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For thousands of years, Amazonian tribes have been using and benefiting from this chemical cocktail according to their ancestral traditions, their intuition and their magic. Now it is up to us, above our rational and scientific culture, and accompanied and supported by it, to take advantage of this gift of nature and obtain all its benefits, beyond what we can be demonstrated by the multitude of pharmacological experiments carried out in scientific laboratories.