Forensic toxicology relies heavily on foundational analytical chemistry techniques for the identification and characterization of drugs and toxins, and this work specifically focused on novel psychoactive substances (NPS). NPS are drugs that have newly emerged on the illicit or recreational drug market for use that circumvents legislation (i.e., “legal highs”) and cause significant risk to drug...
Short-acting tryptamine psychedelics are emerging as candidate psychiatric therapeutics with pharmacological profiles that may offer practical advantages over longer-acting psychedelics. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (N,N-DMT) and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) differ in pharmacokinetic, receptor, and phenomenological properties, while zalsupindole is a putatively non-hallucinogenic...
This cross-sectional study describes health outcomes attributed to recent use of psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), ibogaine, and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) in a nationally representative survey of US adults.
Psychedelic compounds such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) induce rapid and profound changes in conscious experience, requiring neuroimaging measures that capture how brain dynamics evolve across space and time. Emerging evidence suggests that rotational (vortex-like) dynamics may contribute to the coordination of large-scale neural activity. Here, we introduce two vorticity-based metrics;...
BACKGROUND: Psychoactive serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists are potent modulators of awareness. Influential theories propose that psychedelics alter whole-brain dynamics by increasing neural signal diversity and dynamic flexibility. Beyond temporal variability, it is an open question whether psychedelics impact the characteristics of transient neural state sequences themselves. AIMS: Our goal...
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a naturally occurring substituted tryptamine used as a psychedelic drug for ritual purposes by various cultures. Derivatives were already found on the drug of abuse market, such as N1-tert-butoxycarbonyl-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT-Boc). The aim of the current study was to investigate the toxicokinetics of DMT-Boc and three related DMT derivatives, by name...
Abstract Background Recent clinical trials show that 5-MeO-DMT produces rapid antidepressant effects, yet the receptor mechanisms underlying these outcomes remain incompletely defined. Although 5-MeO-DMT is a high-affinity agonist at multiple serotonergic receptors, the relative contribution of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor signaling to its antidepressant-like actions has not been causally...
Abstract Background Major depression (MD) is a prevalent and debilitating disorder, characterized by anhedonia, persistent low mood, and learned helplessness, affecting up to 21% of adults over a lifetime. Chronic stress is a major environmental contributor to MD, and preclinical models of chronic mild stress (CMS) allow investigation of its behavioral and neurobiological consequences....
Abstract Background Psychedelics such as psilocybin have demonstrated rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in humans, particularly when administered in carefully designed therapeutic environments (Borkel et al., 2024; Carhart-Harris et al., 2021). DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, distinguished by their brief duration of psychedelic effects, have also shown encouraging preliminary outcomes in depressive...
This qualitative study examines self-reported experiences with 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) shared on Reddit to explore subjective reports, contextual influences, and perceived effects. A total of 120 posts from 24 discussion threads were purposively selected and thematically analyzed using an inductive, constructivist approach. The analysis resulted in 48 codes, which were...
Serotonergic psychedelics, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), have shown therapeutic potential in various psychiatric disorders. However, DMT demonstrates pharmacokinetic (PK) variability and a short half-life. This exploratory study investigated the PK, pharmacodynamic (PD), and safety profile of CYB004, a deuterated DMT analogue, following intravenous administration in healthy volunteers....
ABSTRACT Psychedelic compounds exhibit diverse pharmacological and clinical effects, underscoring the need for further research and the development of clear guidelines to support their safe and effective clinical use. Growing interest in psychedelics has also increased attention toward the relationship between nutrition, dietary habits, and psychiatric disorders. This narrative review presents...
Abstract Background Serotonergic psychedelics show promise for treating psychiatric disorders, with symptom improvements lasting for weeks after a single dose. Clarifying the neural basis of these effects would benefit from an identification of empirical biomarkers of such lasting shifts in brain function. Resting state EEG offers a rapid (<5 minute), low-cost window into functional brain...
Abstract N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) are structurally related tryptamine psychedelics with emerging therapeutic potential, yet their comparative acute pharmacology and longer-term neuroplastic effects remain incompletely defined. Here we show that DMT produces a bell-shaped dose–response curve in the mouse head-twitch response (HTR) assay,...
Abstract Adult dentate gyrus neurogenesis and cell proliferation are regulated by multiple physiological inputs, including experience-dependent signals that have been linked to the DNA glycosylase NEIL3. Whether NEIL3 also gates psychedelic-induced proliferation is unknown. Here we tested the effect of a single dose of 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), a serotonergic agonist with...
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The psychedelic therapeutics field continues to evolve beyond classical hallucinogens toward integrated treatment platforms that combine optimized pharmacology, drug delivery, and clinical implementation. Recent patent applications disclose selective 5-HT2A receptor activators, precision aerosol delivery technologies for psychedelic compounds,...
The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) produces rapid antidepressant effects in preclinical and early clinical studies. Therapeutic benefits have been linked to sustained neural plasticity, including adult neurogenesis in rodents. Whether brief DMT exposure engages proliferative responses in human neural stem cells (NSCs) remains unresolved. Using human iPSC-derived NSCs, we...
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a bioactive indole alkaloid that could greatly benefit from scalable, fermentation-based production for research and pharmaceutical applications. In this study, we reconstructed a two-step bacterial pathway converting L-tryptophan to DMT via tryptamine. This involved combining a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent tryptophan decarboxylase from the bacterium...
NeuropharmacologyJuly 1, 2026Anne Nathalia De Sousa-Silva, Clarissa de Almeida Moura, Carina Ioná De Oliveira Torres et al.1 citation
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an naturally occurring indoleamine with hallucinogenic and antidepressant effects in humans. Here, we compared the effects of DMT and S-ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, in helpless mice. To induce helplessness, male single and group-housed mice were exposed to inescapable footshock stress; only helpless animals were subsequently treated with S-ketamine 10...
The brain’s ability to rewire itself, neuroplasticity, declines dramatically with age. Children learn faster; adults get stuck in patterns; older adults struggle to adapt. The reasons for this decline remain unclear. In a companion paper (Solis, 2026a), I critically evaluated the broad hypothesis that N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has endogenous physiological functions. The evidence was found to...