Abstract Despite its early promise as ‘the chemical key to schizophrenia’, and its manifest properties as a psychotomimetic, LSD failed to catch on as a drug model for human psychosis. The reasons for this and the longstanding preference, instead, for the amphetamine model are examined. It is argued that the rejection of LSD was not just a scientific decision, but was influenced by increasing...
Although the density and distribution of 5-HT2A (5-hydroxytryptamine-2A) receptors is well established for rat brain, the 5-HT2A receptor distribution and density in guinea pig brain has not been extensively studied. In the present in vitro study, we have utilized 125I-lysergic acid diethylamide ([125I]LSD) to quantify and compare 5-HT2A receptor density in coronal sections of rat and guinea...
Abstract This report describes a simplified extraction technique for the analysis of LSD by GC/MS. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Forensic Laboratory recently received two suspected LSD cases involving four sugar cubes and seven food coloring bottles each containing a liquid substance. Following the extraction described in this report, both cases were subsequently confirmed by...
LSD and Ecstasy and other hallucinogenic drugs (especially psilocybin mescaline) are in an anomalous position as frequently abused, widely available illicit drugs that are rarely identified in drug tests.
To the Editor. —We have recently presented data 1 from our annual survey of 522 328 junior and senior school students from schools across the United States. This anonymous questionnaire on the prevalence of drug use was administered to all junior and senior students attending home rooms in these schools in 1993, and results were compared with 1992. Hallucinogen use increased significantly ( P t...
Like hallucinogenic 5-HT2 agonists, LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) produces characteristic decreases in locomotor activity and investigatory behaviors of rats tested in a novel environment. Because LSD is an agonist at both 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 receptors, however, the respective influences of these different receptors in the behavioral effects of LSD remain unclear. In particular, the paucity...
The ability of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to alter immune function after direct in vitro exposure was examined. It was demonstrated that LSD is able to suppress the proliferation of B-lymphocytes; the production of the cytokines IL-2, IL-4, and IL-6; and the induction of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes at a concentration of 100 microM. In vitro exposure to LSD had differential effects on natural...