N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a strong psychodysleptic drug, has been found in higher plants, shamanic hallucinogenic beverages, and the urine of schizophrenic patients. The aim of this work was to gain better knowledge on the relationship between this drug and hallucinogenic processes by studying DMT behavior in comparison with tryptamine. (131)I-labeled DMT and tryptamine were injected into...
The experimental psychosis observed after drinking Ayahoasca, a South American hallucinogenic beverage from the Amazon Indians, reproduces the pathologic transmethylation theory of schizophrenia. This theory postulates a decrease in the monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, which results in the accumulation of methylated indolealkylamines, such as bufotenin (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine),...
Interest in the role of indolamines in the pathogenesis of psychoses has been renewed in recent years by the development of atypical antipsychotic drugs such as clozapine, olanzapine, and risperidone, which act on serotonin receptors. Discovery of the hallucinogenic compounds called methylated indolealkyalamines (MIAs) (e.g. N,N-dimethylserotonin, or bufotenin, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or...