Methodology for determining major constituents of ayahuasca and their metabolites in blood.
Ethan H. Mcilhenny, Jordi Riba, Manel J. Barbanoj, Rick J. Strassman, Steven A. Barker
Biomedical chromatography : BMC March 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1002/bmc.1657 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Method development and validation Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Ayahuasca research: ayahuasca Plant medicine Medical potential Future clinical research Bioanalytical methods: method Analyze Tracking compounds Alkaloids Metabolites Detectable substances Plasma preparation Sensitivity Specificity Reproducibility |
| Citations | 57 |
| Key points | A single methodology using HPLC-ion trap-ion trap-mass spectrometry can directly analyze 14 major alkaloid components of ayahuasca and their metabolites in blood plasma with adequate sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility for clinical research. |
Abstract
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 analytical techniques (high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and/or fluorescence detection and gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection) has been used for the analysis of some of the constituents of ayahuasca in blood following its oral consumption. We report here a single methodology for the direct analysis of 14 of the major alkaloid components of ayahuasca, including several known and potential metabolites of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and the harmala alkaloids in blood. The method uses 96-well plate/protein precipitation/filtration for plasma samples, and analysis by HPLC-ion trap-ion trap-mass spectrometry using heated electrospray ionization to reduce matrix effects. The method expands the list of compounds capable of being monitored in blood following ayahuasca administration while providing a simplified approach to their analysis. The method has adequate sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility to make it useful for clinical research with ayahuasca.