Comparison of the discriminative stimulus effects of dimethyltryptamine with different classes of psychoactive compounds in rats

A study trained rats to discriminate dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from saline and tested whether other hallucinogens and psychostimulants substitute for it. LSD, DOM, and MDMA fully substituted in DMT-trained rats, while DMT fully substituted only in DOM-trained rats. Full cross-substitution occurred between DMT and DOM, LSD and DOM, and methamphetamine and MDMA. No cross-substitution was evident between methamphetamine and DMT, LSD, or DOM. The authors conclude that DMT produces discriminative stimulus effects most similar to DOM, with some similarity to LSD and MDMA, and that DMT, like DOM and LSD, produces predominantly hallucinogenic-like effects with minimal psychostimulant effects.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Rationale There has been increased recreational use of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), but little is known of its discriminative stimulus effects. Objectives The present study assessed the similarity of the discriminative stimulus effects of DMT to other types of hallucinogens and to psychostimulants. Methods Rats were trained to discriminate DMT from saline. To test the similarity of DMT to known hallucinogens, the ability of (+)-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), (−)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM), (+)-methamphetamine, or (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethyl amphetamine (MDMA) to substitute in DMT-trained rats was tested. The ability of DMT to substitute in rats trained to discriminate each of these compounds was also tested. To assess the degree of similarity in discriminative stimulus effects, each of the compounds was tested for substitution in all of the other training groups. Results LSD, DOM, and MDMA all fully substituted in DMT-trained rats, whereas DMT fully substituted only in DOM-trained rats. Full cross-substitution occurred between DMT and DOM, LSD and DOM, and (+)-methamphetamine and MDMA. MDMA fully substituted for (+)-methamphetamine, DOM, and DMT, but only partially for LSD. In MDMA-trained rats, LSD and (+)-methamphetamine fully substituted, whereas DMT and DOM did not fully substitute. No cross-substitution was evident between (+)-methamphetamine and DMT, LSD, or DOM. Conclusions DMT produces discriminative stimulus effects most similar to those of DOM, with some similarity to the discriminative stimulus effects of LSD and MDMA. Like DOM and LSD, DMT seems to produce predominately hallucinogenic-like discriminative stimulus effects and minimal psychostimulant effects, in contrast to MDMA which produced hallucinogen- and psychostimulant-like effects.