Archives of Toxicology
August 1, 2015
Ana Margarida Araújo, Félix Carvalho, Maria de Lourdes Bastos et al.
290 citations
In the area of psychotropic drugs, tryptamines are known to be a broad class of classical or serotonergic hallucinogens. These drugs are capable of producing profound changes in sensory perception, mood and thought in humans and act primarily as agonists of the 5-HT2A receptor. Well-known tryptamines such as psilocybin contained in Aztec sacred mushrooms and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT),...
Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
August 1, 2015
Patricia E J Wiltshire, David L Hawksworth, Kevin J Edwards
18 citations
Light microscopical examination of plant and fungal remains in the post mortem gut may be capable of demonstrating the ingestion of unexpected natural psychotropic materials. This is demonstrated here in a case in which a 'shaman' was accused of causing the death of a young man. The deceased had participated in a ceremony which involved the drinking of ayahuasca in order to induce a...
Frontiers in Immunology
July 14, 2015
Attila Szabo
153 citations
Classical psychedelics are psychoactive substances, which, besides their psychopharmacological activity, have also been shown to exert significant modulatory effects on immune responses by altering signaling pathways involved in inflammation, cellular proliferation, and cell survival via activating NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinases. Recently, several neurotransmitter receptors...
Behavioural Processes
June 6, 2015
Aline Pic‐taylor, Luciana Gueiros Da Motta, Juliana Alves de Morais et al.
99 citations
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage used by indigenous and religious groups, is generally prepared by the coction of Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis caapi plants containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and β-carboline alkaloids, respectively. To investigate the acute toxicity of ayahuasca, the infusion was administered by gavage to female Wistar rats at doses of 30X and 50X the dose taken...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2015
Uyen Bao Chu, Timur A. Mavlyutov, Amanda Schulman et al.
10 citations
Indolethylamine‐N MethylTransferase (INMT) is a small molecule N‐methyltransferase that transfer methyl groups from S‐Adenosyl‐L‐Methionine (SAM) to indoleamines. Methylation of tryptamine produces the hallucinogen, N,N‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and methylated serotonin generates bufotenin. In animals, the endogenous production of DMT has been proposed to be a regulator of the Sigma‐1 Receptor...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 29, 2015
Joan Francesc Alonso, Sergio Romero, Miguel Ángel Mañanas et al.
105 citations
BACKGROUND: Psychedelics induce intense modifications in the sensorium, the sense of "self," and the experience of reality. Despite advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular level mechanisms of these drugs, knowledge of their actions on global brain dynamics is still incomplete. Recent imaging studies have found changes in functional coupling between frontal and parietal brain...
Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology
February 25, 2015
Dimítrius Leonardo Pitol, Selma Siéssere, Rafael G. Dos Santos et al.
13 citations
Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic brew traditionally used by Northwestern Amazonian indigenous groups for therapeutic purposes. It is prepared by the decoction of Banisteriopsis caapi with the leaves of Psychotria viridis. Banisteriopsis caapi contains β-carbolines that are inhibitors of monoamine oxidase and P. viris is rich in dimethyltryptamine, a 5-HT(1A/2A/2C) agonist. Acute ayahuasca...
European Neuropsychopharmacology
January 16, 2015
José Carlos Bouso, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Antoni Rodrı́guez-fornells et al.
221 citations
Psychedelic agents have a long history of use by humans for their capacity to induce profound modifications in perception, emotion and cognitive processes. Despite increasing knowledge of the neural mechanisms involved in the acute effects of these drugs, the impact of sustained psychedelic use on the human brain remains largely unknown. Molecular pharmacology studies have shown that...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2015
Dennis J. Mckenna, Jordi Riba
31 citations
New World indigenous peoples are noted for their sophisticated use of psychedelic plants in shamanic and ethnomedical practices. The use of psychedelic plant preparations among New World tribes is far more prevalent than in the Old World. Yet, although these preparations are botanically diverse, almost all are chemically similar in that their active principles are tryptamine derivatives, either...
Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry
2015
Zoë Ellison‐wright, Ben Sessa
7 citations
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder is a disorder of uncertain aetiology occurring mainly after ‘classical’ hallucinogen use ( ie mescaline, psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine and LSD) use. Here, the authors describe the case of a boy with similar symptoms developing after he reported using cannabis seven times.