22 papers in the library · 2,112 citations · publishing 2009-2025
ACS Chem Neurosci November 5, 2025 Steven A. Barker 1 citation
Simple Analogs of the LSD D-Ring: A Consideration of Structure-Activity Relationships and Their Potential as Therapeutics.
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry March 20, 2025 Steven A. Barker 3 citations
Renewed interest in the clinical use of psychedelic drugs acknowledges their therapeutic effectiveness. It has also provided a changing frame of reference for older psychedelic drug study data, especially regarding concentrations of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) reported in rodent brains and recent discoveries in DMT receptor interactions in rat brain neurons and select brain areas. The mode of...
Psychopharmacology January 22, 2022 Steven A. Barker 59 citations
As with all drugs, the route, form, and/or dose of a substance administered or applied can play a defining role in its overall pharmacology and use as a therapeutic. This review will focus on these factors as they relate to the psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). It will examine the positive and negative aspects of different formulations and routes of administration of DMT and the...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience January 6, 2022 D. Kelley, Katy Venable, Aspasia Destouni et al. 41 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with cognitive deficits, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Animal models have recapitulated features of PTSD, but no comparative RNA sequencing analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the brain between PTSD and animal models of traumatic stress has been carried out. We compared DEGs from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of an...
Research Square June 15, 2021 Dennis Parker Kelley, Katy Venable, Gerald Billac et al. 1 citation
Abstract Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with cognitive deficits, oxidative stress and inflammation. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a known neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and psychoplastogen with antidepressant effects. Therefore, we tested the capacity of DMT, the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) harmaline, and “pharmahuasca” (DMT + harmaline) to reduce...
Scientific Reports June 27, 2019 Jon G Dean, Tiecheng Liu, Sean Huff et al. 111 citations
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic compound identified endogenously in mammals, is biosynthesized by aromatic-L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) and indolethylamine-N-methyltransferase (INMT). Whether DMT is biosynthesized in the mammalian brain is unknown. We investigated brain expression of INMT transcript in rats and humans, co-expression of INMT and AADC mRNA in rat brain and...
Frontiers in Neuroscience August 6, 2018 Steven A. Barker 174 citations
This report provides a historical overview of research concerning the endogenous hallucinogen N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), focusing on data regarding its biosynthesis and metabolism in the brain and peripheral tissues, methods and results for DMT detection in body fluids and brain, new sites of action for DMT, and new data regarding its possible physiological and therapeutic roles. Research...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology May 17, 2017 Frederic Sampedro, Mario de la Fuente Revenga, Marta Valle et al. 205 citations
Background: Ayahuasca is a plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmala monoamine-oxidase inhibitors. Acute administration leads to neurophysiological modifications in brain regions of the default mode network, purportedly through a glutamatergic mechanism. Post-acutely, ayahuasca potentiates mindfulness capacities in volunteers and induces rapid and...
Psychopharmacology July 19, 2016 Kim P. C. Kuypers, Jordi Riba, Mario de la Fuente Revenga et al. 204 citations
INTRODUCTION: Ayahuasca is a South American psychotropic plant tea traditionally used in Amazonian shamanism. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine oxidase-inhibiting properties. Increasing evidence from anecdotal reports and open-label studies indicates that ayahuasca may have therapeutic effects in...
European Neuropsychopharmacology March 26, 2016 Marta Valle, Ana Maqueda, Mireia Rabella et al. 175 citations
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea typically obtained from two plants, Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. It contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A and sigma-1 agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase (MAO)-inhibiting properties. Although the psychoactive effects of ayahuasca have commonly been attributed solely to agonism at the...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology February 12, 2016 Marta Valle, Montserrat Puntes, Jimena Coimbra et al. 31 citations
BACKGROUND: Salvinorin-A is a terpene found in the leaves of the plant Salvia divinorum. When administered to humans, salvinorin-A induces an intense but short-lasting modified state of awareness, sharing features with those induced by the classical serotonin-2A receptor agonist psychedelics. However, unlike substances such as psilocybin or mescaline, salvinorin-A shows agonist activity at the...
Psychopharmacology November 27, 2015 Joaquim Soler, Matilde Elices, Alba Franquesa et al. 212 citations
BackgroundAyahuasca is a psychotropic plant tea used for ritual purposes by the indigenous populations of the Amazon. In the last two decades, its use has expanded worldwide. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase-inhibiting properties. Acute administration induces an introspective dream-like...
PLoS One September 30, 2015 Eduardo Ekman Schenberg, João Felipe Morel Alexandre, Renato Filev et al. 115 citations
Ritual use of ayahuasca, an amazonian Amerindian medicine turned sacrament in syncretic religions in Brazil, is rapidly growing around the world. Because of this internationalization, a comprehensive understanding of the pharmacological mechanisms of action of the brew and the neural correlates of the modified states of consciousness it induces is important. Employing a combination of...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology June 5, 2015 Marta Valle, Montserrat Puntes, Jimena Coimbra et al. 75 citations
BACKGROUND: Salvinorin-A is a terpene with agonist properties at the kappa-opioid receptor, the binding site of endogenous dynorphins. Salvinorin-A is found in Salvia divinorum, a psychoactive plant traditionally used by the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, for medicinal and spiritual purposes. Previous studies with the plant and salvinorin-A have reported psychedelic-like changes in...
Drug Testing and Analysis July 28, 2014 Jordi Riba, Ethan H. Mcilhenny, José Carlos Bouso et al. 96 citations
N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a widely distributed plant alkaloid that displays partial agonist activity at the 5‐HT 2A receptor and induces intense psychedelic effects in humans when administered parenterally. However, self‐administration studies have reported a total lack of activity following oral intake. This is thought to be due to extensive degradation by monoamine oxidase (MAO)....
Biomedical chromatography : BMC December 1, 2013 Steven A. Barker, Jimo Borjigin, Izabela Lomnicka et al. 73 citations
We report a qualitative liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the simultaneous analysis of the three known N,N-dimethyltryptamine endogenous hallucinogens, their precursors and metabolites, as well as melatonin and its metabolic precursors. The method was characterized using artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) as the matrix and was subsequently applied to the...
Drug Testing and Analysis April 19, 2012 Jordi Riba, Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Marta Valle et al. 91 citations
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi , which contains β ‐carboline alkaloids, chiefly harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The tea usually incorporates the leaves of Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys cabrerana , which are rich in N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic 5‐HT 2A/1A/2C agonist. The β ‐carbolines reversibly inhibit...
Biomedical chromatography : BMC March 1, 2012 Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Jordi Riba, Manel J. Barbanoj et al. 57 citations
There is an increasing interest in potential medical applications of ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic plant tea with a long cultural history of indigenous medical and religious use. Clinical research into ayahuasca will require specific, sensitive and comprehensive methods for the characterization and quantitation of these compounds and their metabolites in blood. A combination of two...
Drug Testing and Analysis 2012 Steven A. Barker, Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Rick J. Strassman 143 citations
Three indole alkaloids that possess differing degrees of psychotropic/psychedelic activity have been reported as endogenous substances in humans; N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-hydroxy-DMT (bufotenine, HDMT), and 5-methoxy-DMT (MDMT). We have undertaken a critical review of 69 published studies reporting the detection or detection and quantitation of these compounds in human body fluids. In...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology October 15, 2011 Rafael G. Dos Santos, Marta Valle, José Carlos Bouso et al. 136 citations
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea combining the 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting β-carboline alkaloids that render DMT orally active. The tea, obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, has traditionally been used for religious, ritual, and medicinal purposes by the indigenous peoples of the region. More recently, the...
Biomedical chromatography : BMC September 1, 2011 Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Jordi Riba, Manel J. Barbanoj et al. 51 citations
Ayahuasca, also known as caapi or yage among various South American groups, holds a highly esteemed and millennia-old position in these cultures' medical and religious pharmacopeia. There is now an increasing interest in the potential for modern medical applications of ayahuasca, as well as concerns regarding its increasing potential for abuse. Toxicological and clinical research to address...
Journal of chromatography. A December 18, 2009 Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Kelly E Pipkin, Leanna J Standish et al. 58 citations
A direct injection/liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry procedure has been developed for the simultaneous quantitation of 11 compounds potentially found in the increasingly popular Amazonian botanical medicine and religious sacrament ayahuasca. The method utilizes a deuterated internal standard for quantitation and affords rapid detection of the alkaloids by a...