DMT

Effects

immersive experience, open eye visuals, radical perspective shifting, profound life-changing spiritual experiences, powerful rushing of sensation, change in perception of time, auditory hallucinations, color shifting, hard on lungs when smoking, stomach discomfort, difficulty integrating experiences, overwhelming fear TS

Overview

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (also known as DMT, N,N-DMT, Dmitri, and "The Spirit Molecule") is a classical psychedelic substance of the tryptamine class. Among psychedelics, it is known for its unique ability to produce short-lived but intense visionary states and complete hallucinations. It is thought to produce its effects by binding to serotonin receptors in the brain, although the precise mechanism is not fully understood.[1] PW

A popular and powerful psychedelic, typically used in two ways; either it is vapourised for a short 'breakthrough' experience, or it is taken in combination with an enzyme inhibitor for a long, intense trip (this is also known as ayahuasca or pharmahuasca). TS

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), also known as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (N,N-DMT), is a serotonergic hallucinogen and investigational drug of the tryptamine family that occurs naturally in many plants and animals. DMT is used as a psychedelic drug and prepared by various cultures for ritual purposes as an entheogen.[2–6] WP

DMT has a rapid onset, intense effects, and a relatively short duration of action. For those reasons, DMT was known as the "businessman's trip" during the 1960s in the United States, as a user could access the full depth of a psychedelic experience in considerably less time than with other substances such as LSD or psilocybin mushrooms. DMT can be inhaled or injected and its effects depend on the dose, as well as the mode of administration. When inhaled or injected, the effects last about five to fifteen minutes. Effects can last three hours or more when orally ingested along with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), such as the ayahuasca brew of many native Amazonian tribes. DMT induces intense, often indescribable subjective experiences involving vivid visual hallucinations, altered sensory perception, ego dissolution, and encounters with seemingly autonomous entities. DMT is generally considered non addictive with low dependence and having little to no tolerance build-up with short-acting routes, but it may cause acute psychological distress or cardiovascular effects, especially in predisposed individuals.[7][8] WP

DMT was first synthesized in 1931. It is a functional and structural analog of other psychedelic tryptamines such as 4-AcO-DMT (O-acetylpsilocin), psilocybin (4-PO-DMT), psilocin (4-HO-DMT), O-methylbufotenin (5-MeO-DMT), and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT). Parts of the structure of DMT occur within some important biomolecules like serotonin and melatonin, making them structural analogues of DMT.[9] WP

DMT exhibits broad and variable binding affinities across numerous receptors, showing its strongest interactions with serotonin receptors, especially 5-HT2A, 5-HT1A, and 5-HT2C, which are believed to mediate its psychedelic effects. Endogenous DMT, a psychedelic compound, is naturally produced in mammals, with evidence showing its synthesis and presence in brain and body tissues, though its exact roles and origins remain debated. DMT is internationally illegal without authorization, with most countries banning its possession and trade, though some allow religious use of ayahuasca, a DMT-containing decoction. Short-acting psychedelics like DMT are considered scalable alternatives to longer-acting drugs like psilocybin for potential clinical use. DMT is currently undergoing clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression.[10][11][12] WP

History

History

DMT derived from plant-based sources has been used as an entheogen in South America for thousands of years.[19][20] WP

DMT was first synthesized in 1931 by Canadian chemist Richard Manske. In general, its discovery as a natural product is credited to Brazilian chemist and microbiologist Oswaldo Gonçalves de Lima, who isolated an alkaloid he named nigerina (nigerine) from the root bark of Mimosa tenuiflora in 1946. However, in a careful review of the case Jonathan Ott shows that the empirical formula for nigerine determined by Gonçalves de Lima, which notably contains an atom of oxygen, can match only a partial, "impure" or "contaminated" form of DMT. It was only in 1959, when Gonçalves de Lima provided American chemists a sample of Mimosa tenuiflora roots, that DMT was unequivocally identified in this plant material. Less ambiguous is the case of isolation and formal identification of DMT in 1955 in seeds and pods of Anadenanthera peregrina by a team of American chemists led by Evan Horning (1916-1993). Since 1955, DMT has been found in a number of organisms: in at least fifty plant species belonging to ten families, and in at least four animal species, including one gorgonian and three mammalian species (including humans).[21–30] WP⚠ Wikipedia itself has flagged this text: citation needed.

In terms of a scientific understanding, the hallucinogenic effects of DMT were not uncovered until 1956 by Hungarian chemist and psychiatrist Stephen Szára. Szára, who later worked for the United States National Institutes of Health, researched DMT after his order to acquire LSD from the Swiss company Sandoz Laboratories was rejected on the grounds that the powerful psychotropic could be dangerous in the hands of a communist country. In his paper Dimethyltryptamin: Its Metabolism in Man; the Relation of its Psychotic Effect to the Serotonin Metabolism, Szara employed synthetic DMT, synthesized by the Speeter–Anthony route, which was then administered to 20 volunteers by intramuscular injection. Urine samples were collected from these volunteers for the identification of DMT metabolites. This is considered to be the link between the chemical structure of DMT and its cultural consumption as a psychoactive and religious sacrament.[21][24][31][32][33] WP

Another historical milestone was the discovery of DMT in plants frequently used by Amazonian natives as additive to the vine Banisteriopsis caapi to make ayahuasca decoctions. In 1957, American chemists Francis Hochstein and Anita Paradies identified DMT in an "aqueous extract" of leaves of a plant they named Prestonia amazonicum [sic] and described as "commonly mixed" with B. caapi. The lack of a proper botanical identification of Prestonia amazonica in this study led American ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes (1915–2001) and other scientists to raise serious doubts about the claimed plant identity. The mistake likely led the writer William Burroughs to regard the DMT he experimented with in Tangier in 1961 as "Prestonia". Better evidence was produced in 1965 by French pharmacologist Jacques Poisson, who isolated DMT as a sole alkaloid from leaves, provided and used by Aguaruna Indians, identified as having come from the vine Diplopterys cabrerana (then known as Banisteriopsis rusbyana). Published in 1970, the first identification of DMT in the plant Psychotria viridis, another common additive of ayahuasca, was made by a team of American researchers led by pharmacologist Ara der Marderosian. Not only did they detect DMT in leaves of P. viridis obtained from Kaxinawá indigenous people, but they were also the first to identify it in a sample of an ayahuasca decoction, prepared by the same indigenous people.[25][34–38] WP⚠ A word may be missing here. It reads this way in the source too.

In the 1960s, DMT was known as a "businessman's trip" in the United States because of its very rapid onset and short duration when smoked. It was also referred to by Timothy Leary as the "nuclear bomb of the psychedelic family" in the Psychedelic Review in 1966.[7][39] WP

Popular culture

In the 2022 Australian film Everything in Between, the lead character smokes what is implied to be DMT in the opening sequence, which is followed by hallucination-like visual effects and an altered state of consciousness.[40] WP

Legal status

• Internationally, DMT is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, meaning that international trade in DMT is supposed to be closely monitored and its use is supposed to be restricted to scientific research and medical use. Natural materials containing DMT, including ayahuasca, are not regulated under the 1971 Psychotropic Convention.[41][42] PW
• Australia: DMT is controlled under Schedule 9 of the Poisions Standard. A schedule 9 drug is outlined in the Poisons Act 1964 as "Substances which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of the CEO." Under the Misuse of Drugs act 1981 6.0 g of DMT is considered enough to determine a court of trial and 2.0 g is considered intent to sell and supply. Between 2011 and 2012, the Australian Federal Government was considering changes to the Australian Criminal Code that would classify any plants containing any amount of DMT as "controlled plants". DMT itself was already controlled under current laws. The proposed changes included other similar blanket bans for other substances, such as a ban on any and all plants containing Mescaline or Ephedrine. The proposal was not pursued after political embarrassment on realisation that this would make the official Floral Emblem of Australia, Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle), illegal. The Therapeutic Goods Administration and federal authority had considered a motion to ban the same, but this was withdrawn in May 2012 (as DMT may still hold potential entheogenic value to native and/or religious people).[43–47] PW
• Austria: DMT is illegal to possess, produce and sell under the SMG (Suchtmittelgesetz Österreich). PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Belgium: DMT is illegal to possess, sell, purchase and import.[48] PW
• Brazil: DMT is illegal to possess, produce and sell under Portaria SVS/MS nº 344. Rules are relaxed regarding religious use.[49] PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Canada: DMT is listed in Schedule III of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.[50] PW
• Denmark: DMT is a Category B controlled substance.[51] PW
• Estonia: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance. PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• France: DMT is classified as a narcotic. PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Hungary: DMT is illegal to possess, produce and sell. PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Germany: DMT is controlled under Anlage I BtMG (Narcotics Act, Schedule I) as of January 24, 1974. It is illegal to manufacture, possess, import, export, buy, sell, procure or dispense it without a license.[52][53][54] PW
• Ireland: DMT is a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Acts.[55] PW
• Israel: DMT is an illegal substance. Production, trade and possession are prosecuted as crimes.[56] PW
• India: DMT is illegal to produce, transport, trade in or possess.[57] PW
• Italy: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance.[58] PW
• Latvia: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance.[59] PW
• The Netherlands: DMT is classified as a Lijst 1 (List I) controlled substance under the Opiumwet (Opium Law).[60] PW
• New Zealand: DMT is classified in New Zealand as a Class A controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.[61] PW
• Norway: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance. PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Russia: DMT is a список I (List I) contolled substance. It is illegal to possess, produce and sell.[62] PW
• Serbia: DMT is a List 4 controlled substance. PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Sweden: DMT is controlled under Förteckning I (Schedule 1). The Swedish supreme court concluded in 2018 that possession of processed plant material containing a significant amount of DMT is illegal. However, possession of unprocessed such plant material was ruled legal.[63] PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Switzerland: DMT is a controlled substance specifically named under Verzeichnis D.[64] PW
• United Kingdom: DMT is a Class A controlled substance.[65] PW
• United States: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance. Rules are relaxed regarding religious use, however. In the US, dried root bark of Mimosa hostilis had been considered a "grey area" item for a long time. However, recent efforts by the DEA appear to be focusing on eliminating internet sales of the bark, citing 21 USC § 841, which states that "(IV) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subclauses (I) through (III)" is also considered an illegal substance. Many USA based vendors have since been stocking Acacia confusa bark as a result due to its very similar alkaloid content.[66] PW⚠ PsychonautWiki itself has flagged this text: citation needed.
• Czech Republic: DMT is a Schedule I controlled substance.[67] PW

Cantelmoism

A man named Chris Cantelmo attempted to create an online cult around DMT called "Cantelmoism" in the late 2010s. He was a wealthy biochemist and Yale University graduate who had worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several decades, including running multiple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) companies. Cantelmo began his DMT cult endeavor on Reddit and other social media websites after trying DMT in 2018. He rapidly spent his wealth in a fervent attempt to promote DMT and get as many people to try it as possible, forming a cult in the process and becoming an online spectacle. Among other claims, Cantelmo asserted that DMT cured his brain cancer and that it would cure all other diseases. However, he later admitted that he had never had brain cancer and that it had really cured his "severe" lifelong atheism, which he likened to cancer. Cantelmo suffered from mental health issues and died of suicide whilst under pressure of losing his home in November 2019.[68] WP

Black market

Electronic cigarette cartridges or vape pens filled with DMT started to be sold on the black market by 2018.[69][70][71] WP

Akasha Song previously manufactured and sold DMT on the dark web and is said to have been the largest DMT producer and seller in history.[72] WP

International law

Internationally, DMT is illegal to possess without authorisation, exemption or license, but ayahuasca and DMT brews and preparations are lawful. DMT is controlled by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances at the international level. The Convention makes it illegal to possess, buy, purchase, sell, to retail and to dispense without a licence. WP

By continent and country

In some countries, ayahuasca is a forbidden or controlled or regulated substance, while in other countries it is not a controlled substance or its production, consumption, and sale, is allowed to various degrees. WP

Asia

• Israel - DMT is an illegal substance; production, trade, and possession are prosecuted as crimes.[56] WP
• India - DMT is illegal to produce, transport, trade in, or possess with a minimum prison or jail punishment of ten years.[57] WP

Europe

• Belgium - DMT cannot be possessed, sold, purchased or imported. Usage is not specifically prohibited, but since usage implies possession one could be prosecuted that way.[48] WP
• France - DMT, along with most of its plant-sources, is classified as a stupéfiant (narcotic). WP
• Germany - DMT is prohibited as a class I drug.[52] WP
• Ireland - DMT is an illegal Schedule 1 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Acts. An attempt in 2014 by a member of the Santo Daime church to gain a religious exemption to import the drug failed.[73][74] WP
• Latvia - DMT is prohibited as a Schedule I drug.[75][76] WP
• Netherlands - The drug is banned as it is classified as a List 1 Drug per the Opium Law. Production, trade and possession of DMT are prohibited. WP
• Serbia - DMT, along with stereoisomers and salts is classified as List 4 (Psychotropic substances) substance according to Act on Control of Psychoactive Substances. WP
• Sweden - DMT is considered a Schedule 1 drug. The Swedish supreme court concluded in 2018 that possession of processed plant material containing a significant amount of DMT is illegal. However, possession of unprocessed such plant material was ruled legal.[63][77] WP
• United Kingdom - DMT is classified as a Class A drug. WP

North america

• Canada - DMT is classified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but is legal for religious groups to use. In 2017 the Santo Daime Church Céu do Montréal received religious exemption to use ayahuasca as a sacrament in their rituals.[78][79] WP
• United States - DMT is classified in the United States as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. In 2019, it was decriminalized, along with other naturally derived psychedelics, in the city of Oakland after a campaign by Decriminalize Nature.[80] WP

Other

• Russia - Classified as a Schedule I narcotic, including its derivatives (see sumatriptan and zolmitriptan).[62] WP

Oceania

• New Zealand - DMT is classified as a Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.[81][82] WP
• Australia - DMT is listed as a Schedule 9 prohibited substance in Australia under the Poisons Standard (October 2015). A Schedule 9 drug is outlined in the Poisons Act 1964 as "Substances which may be abused or misused, the manufacture, possession, sale, or use of which should be prohibited by law except when required for medical or scientific research, or for analytical, teaching or training purposes with approval of the CEO". Between 2011 and 2012, the Australian federal government was considering changes to the Australian Criminal Code that would classify any plants containing any amount of DMT as "controlled plants". DMT itself was already controlled under current laws. The proposed changes included other similar blanket bans for other substances, such as a ban on any and all plants containing mescaline or ephedrine. The proposal was not pursued after political embarrassment on realisation that this would make the official floral emblem of Australia, Acacia pycnantha (golden wattle), illegal. The Therapeutic Goods Administration and federal authority had considered a motion to ban the same, but this was withdrawn in May 2012 (as DMT may still hold potential entheogenic value to native and/or religious people). Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 6.0g (3/16oz) of DMT is considered enough to determine a court of trial and 2.0g (1/16oz) is considered intent to sell and supply.[44–47][83] WP⚠ Wikipedia itself has flagged this text: citation needed.

In December 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay allowing the Brazil-based União do Vegetal church to use a decoction containing DMT in their Christmas services that year. This decoction is a tea made from boiled leaves and vines, known as hoasca within the UDV, and ayahuasca in different cultures. In Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, the Supreme Court heard arguments on November 1, 2005, and unanimously ruled in February 2006 that the U.S. federal government must allow the UDV to import and consume the tea for religious ceremonies under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. WP

Also suing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, three Santo Daime churches filed suit in federal court to gain legal status to import DMT-containing ayahuasca tea in 2008. The U.S. District Court in Oregon ruled in Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukasey (615 F.Supp.2d 1210) ruled that the religious group could import, distribute, and brew ayahuasca. A matter of religious freedom protected by the religious freedom law, the court issued a permanent injunction barring the government from prohibiting or penalizing the sacramental use of the religious drink. WP

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

DMT binds non-selectively with affinities below 0.6 μmol/L to the following serotonin receptors: 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT1D, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, 5-HT2C, 5-HT₆, and 5-HT₇. An agonist action has been determined at 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C. Its efficacies at other serotonin receptors remain to be determined. Of special interest will be the determination of its efficacy at human 5-HT2B receptor as two in vitro assays evidenced DMT's high affinity for this receptor: 0.108 μmol/L and 0.184 μmol/L. This may be of importance because chronic or frequent uses of serotonergic drugs showing preferential high affinity and clear agonism at 5-HT2B receptor have been causally linked to valvular heart disease.[89][98–104] WP

It has also been shown to possess affinity for the dopamine D₁, α₁-adrenergic, α₂-adrenergic, imidazoline-1, and σ₁ receptors. Converging lines of evidence established activation of the σ₁ receptor at concentrations of 50–100 μmol/L. Its efficacies at the other receptor binding sites are unclear. It has also been shown in vitro to be a substrate for the cell-surface serotonin transporter (SERT) expressed in human platelets, and the rat vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), which was transiently expressed in fall armyworm Sf9 cells. DMT inhibited SERT-mediated serotonin uptake into platelets at an average concentration of 4.00 ± 0.70 μmol/L and VMAT2-mediated serotonin uptake at an average concentration of 93 ± 6.8 μmol/L. In addition, DMT is a potent serotonin releasing agent with an EC₅₀ (half-maximal effective concentration) value of 81–114 nM and an Eₘₐₓ (maximal efficacy) of 78%.[89][90][93][96][100][105][106][107] WP

As with other so-called "classical hallucinogens", a large part of DMT psychedelic effects can be attributed to a functionally selective activation of the 5-HT2A receptor. DMT concentrations eliciting 50% of its maximal effect (half maximal effective concentration = EC₅₀) at the human 5-HT2A receptor in vitro are in the 0.118–0.983 μmol/L range. This range of values coincides well with the range of concentrations measured in blood and plasma after administration of a fully psychedelic dose.[89][98][101][108–115] WP

DMT is one of the only psychedelics that isn't known to produce tolerance to its hallucinogenic effects. The lack of tolerance with DMT may be related to the fact that, unlike other psychedelics such as LSD and DOI, DMT does not desensitize serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in vitro. This may be due to the fact that DMT is a biased agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. More specifically, DMT activates the Gq signaling pathway of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor without significantly recruiting β-arrestin2. Activation of β-arrestin2 is linked to receptor downregulation and tachyphylaxis. Similarly to DMT, 5-MeO-DMT is a biased agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor, with minimal β-arrestin2 recruitment, and likewise has been associated with little tolerance to its hallucinogenic effects. On the other hand, the lack of apparent tolerance of DMT and similar agents may simply be related to their very short durations. In contrast to the preceding findings however, subsequent research has found that continuous intravenous infusion of DMT does produce moderate acute tolerance.[90][101][116–125] WP

As DMT has been shown to have slightly better potency (EC₅₀) at the human serotonin 5-HT2C receptor than at the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor, the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor is also implicated in DMT's effects. The drug shows pronounced biased agonism at the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor. Other receptors such as the serotonin 5-HT1A receptor and the sigma σ₁ receptor may also play a role.[89][100][101][106][111][113][126][127][128] WP

In 2009, it was hypothesized that DMT may be an endogenous ligand for the σ₁ receptor. The concentration of DMT needed for σ₁ activation in vitro (50–100 μmol/L) is similar to the behaviorally active concentration measured in mouse brain of approximately 106 μmol/L This is minimally 4 orders of magnitude higher than the average concentrations measured in rat brain tissue or human plasma under basal conditions (see Endogenous DMT), so σ₁ receptors are likely to be activated only under conditions of high local DMT concentrations. If DMT is stored in synaptic vesicles, such concentrations might occur during vesicular release. To illustrate, while the average concentration of serotonin in brain tissue is in the 1.5-4 μmol/L range, the concentration of serotonin in synaptic vesicles was measured at 270 mM. Following vesicular release, the resulting concentration of serotonin in the synaptic cleft, to which serotonin receptors are exposed, is estimated to be about 300 μmol/L. Thus, while in vitro receptor binding affinities, efficacies, and average concentrations in tissue or plasma are useful, they are not likely to predict DMT concentrations in the vesicles or at synaptic or intracellular receptors. Under these conditions, notions of receptor selectivity are moot, and it seems probable that most of the receptors identified as targets for DMT (see above) participate in producing its psychedelic effects.[106][107][128–132] WP

DMT produces the head-twitch response (HTR), a behavioral proxy of psychedelic-like effects, in rodents. However, its effects in the HTR paradigm in mice that are highly strain-dependent, including producing an HTR comparable to other psychedelics, producing an HTR that is much weaker than that of other psychedelics, or producing no HTR at all. These conflicting results may be due to rapid metabolism of DMT and/or other peculiarities of DMT in different species. Besides the HTR, DMT also substitutes for LSD and DOM in rodent drug discrimination tests.[2][3][133][134] WP

DMT has been found to increase oxytocin levels in humans.[123] WP

It is thought that the rate at which DMT enters the brain, and hence its route of administration, may influence its effects, with more rapid routes like intravenous administration and inhalation potentiating serotonin 5-HT2A receptor activation and consequent hallucinogenic effects. As an example, a bolus intravenous injection of 15 mg DMT produces stronger peak effects than a continuous infusion of 1 mg/minute given over 1.5 hours in spite of the latter achieving higher peak DMT levels.[122] WP

In September 2020, an in vitro and in vivo study found that DMT present in the ayahuasca infusion promotes neurogenesis. DMT has been found to be a psychoplastogen, a compound capable of promoting rapid and sustained neuroplasticity that may have wide-ranging therapeutic benefit.[135][136] WP⚠ A word may be missing here. It reads this way in the source too.

The cryo-EM structures of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor with DMT, as well as with various other psychedelics and serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists, have been solved and published by Bryan L. Roth and colleagues.[137][138] WP

Absorption

When taken orally, DMT is metabolized by monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzymes in the liver and gut, and is thus not orally bioavailable unless a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) is taken (as is naturally found in the ayahuasca brew). As such, DMT by itself is instead taken by parenteral administration.[5][139] WP

Closely coextending with peak psychedelic effects, the mean time to reach peak concentration (Tₘₐₓ) has been determined to be 10 to 15 minutes in whole blood after intramuscular injection, and 2 to 3 minutes after intravenous administration. When taken orally mixed in an ayahuasca decoction or in freeze-dried ayahuasca gel caps, DMT Tₘₐₓ is considerably delayed to 1.8 hours on average, and 1.5 to 2 hours, respectively.[109][139–143] WP

DMT peak level concentrations (Cₘₐₓ) measured in the blood after intramuscular (IM) injection (0.7 mg/kg, n = 11) and in plasma following intravenous administration (0.4 mg/kg, n = 10) of fully psychedelic doses are in the range of around 14 to 154 μg/L and 32 to 204 μg/L, respectively. The corresponding molar concentrations of DMT are therefore in the range of 0.074–0.818 μmol/L in whole blood and 0.170–1.08 μmol in plasma.[109][140] WP

Distribution

DMT easily crosses the blood–brain barrier. Studies on the llipophilicity of DMT have been contradictory – most studies find DMT to be either lipophilic or slightly lipophilic, but a 2023 study found it to be lipophobic.[144][145] WP

Several studies have described active transport and accumulation of DMT into rat and dog brains following peripheral administration. Similar active transport and accumulation processes likely occur in human brains and may concentrate DMT in brain by several-fold or more (relatively to blood), resulting in local concentrations in the micromolar or higher range. Such concentrations would be commensurate with serotonin brain tissue concentrations, which have been consistently determined to be in the 1.5–4 μmol/L range.[130][131][146–150] WP

The plasma protein binding of DMT is low at approximately 30%.[122][151] WP

Metabolism

DMT is primarily metabolized by monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) (>90%) into indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and to a much lesser extent in the liver by CYP2D6 and CYP2C19. When taken intravenously, DMT is primarily metabolized by MAO-A in the circulatory system and brain. When smoked, a more substantial fraction (possibly as high as 10–20%) is metabolized in the liver by CYP2D6 and CYP2C19.[122][145][151][152][153] WP⚠ A word may be missing here. It reads this way in the source too.

Elimination

DMT is eliminated in urine. When DMT is used in combination with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), its metabolism shifts and a greater amount of DMT-N-oxide is excreted relative to deaminated metabolites. The elimination half-life after intravenous injection is 6 to 12 minutes. However, DMT has a biphasic elimination half-life, with the first phase having a half-life of 6 minutes and the second phase having a half-life of 16 minutes.[122][141][144][151] WP

Detection in body fluids

DMT may be measured in blood, plasma or urine using chromatographic techniques as a diagnostic tool in clinical poisoning situations or to aid in the medicolegal investigation of suspicious deaths. In general, blood or plasma DMT levels in recreational users of the drug are in the 10–30 μg/L range during the first several hours post-ingestion. Less than 0.1% of an oral dose is eliminated unchanged in the 24-hour urine of humans.[154][155] WP⚠ Wikipedia itself has flagged this text: citation needed.⚠ Wikipedia itself has flagged this text: clarification needed.

Indolethylamine n-methyltransferase (INMT)

Before techniques of molecular biology were used to localize indolethylamine N-methyltransferase (INMT), characterization and localization went on a par: samples of the biological material where INMT is hypothesized to be active are subject to enzyme assay. Those enzyme assays are performed either with a radiolabeled methyl donor like (¹⁴C-CH₃)SAM to which known amounts of unlabeled substrates like tryptamine are added or with addition of a radiolabeled substrate like (¹⁴C)NMT to demonstrate in vivo formation. As qualitative determination of the radioactively tagged product of the enzymatic reaction is sufficient to characterize INMT existence and activity (or lack of), analytical methods used in INMT assays are not required to be as sensitive as those needed to directly detect and quantify the minute amounts of endogenously formed DMT. The essentially qualitative method thin layer chromatography (TLC) was thus used in a vast majority of studies. Also, robust evidence that INMT can catalyze transmethylation of tryptamine into NMT and DMT could be provided with reverse isotope dilution analysis coupled to mass spectrometry for rabbit and human lung during the early 1970s.[156–163] WP

Selectivity rather than sensitivity proved to be a challenge for some TLC methods with the discovery in 1974-1975 that incubating rat blood cells or brain tissue with (¹⁴C-CH₃)SAM and NMT as a substrate mostly yields tetrahydro-β-carboline derivatives, and negligible amounts of DMT in brain tissue. It is indeed simultaneously realized that the TLC methods used thus far in almost all published studies on INMT and DMT biosynthesis are incapable to resolve DMT from those tetrahydro-β-carbolines. These findings are a blow for all previous claims of evidence of INMT activity and DMT biosynthesis in avian and mammalian brain, including in vivo, as they all relied upon use of the problematic TLC methods: their validity is doubted in replication studies that make use of improved TLC methods, and fail to evidence DMT-producing INMT activity in rat and human brain tissues. Published in 1978, the last study attempting to evidence in vivo INMT activity and DMT production in brain (rat) with TLC methods finds biotransformation of radiolabeled tryptamine into DMT to be real but "insignificant". Capability of the method used in this latter study to resolve DMT from tetrahydro-β-carbolines is questioned later.[158][159][164–172] WP

To localize INMT, a qualitative leap is accomplished with use of modern techniques of molecular biology, and of immunohistochemistry. In humans, a gene encoding INMT is determined to be located on chromosome 7. Northern blot analyses reveal INMT messenger RNA (mRNA) to be highly expressed in rabbit lung, and in human thyroid, adrenal gland, and lung. Intermediate levels of expression are found in human heart, skeletal muscle, trachea, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, testis, prostate, placenta, lymph node, and spinal cord. Low to very low levels of expression are noted in rabbit brain, and human thymus, liver, spleen, kidney, colon, ovary, and bone marrow. INMT mRNA expression is absent in human peripheral blood leukocytes, whole brain, and in tissue from seven specific brain regions (thalamus, subthalamic nucleus, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, amygdala, substantia nigra, and corpus callosum). Immunohistochemistry showed INMT to be present in large amounts in glandular epithelial cells of small and large intestines. In 2011, immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of INMT in primate nervous tissue including retina, spinal cord motor neurons, and pineal gland. A 2020 study using in-situ hybridization, a far more accurate tool than the northern blot analysis, found mRNA coding for INMT expressed in the human cerebral cortex, choroid plexus, and pineal gland.[156][157][173][174][175] WP

Receptor binding · Wikipedia

Activities of DMT

Every row cites [2][84–97]

Chemistry

Formula

C12H16N2 PC

CAS number

61-50-7 PC

Molar mass (g/mol)

188.27 PC

IUPAC name (computed by PubChem)

2-(1H-indol-3-yl)-N,N-dimethylethanamine PC

SMILES

CN(C)CCC1=CNC2=CC=CC=C21 PC

InChIKey

DMULVCHRPCFFGV-UHFFFAOYSA-N PC

PubChem CID

6089

Pop culture

No references added yet.

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