Many consider DMT to be incredibly similar to near death experience, certain types of dream states, after-death consciousness, genuine spiritual/religious phenomena, and certain types of abduction phenomena, so much so that many prominent researchers speculate that endogenous DMT May actually facilitate these experiences when they occur naturally*, though keep in mind these are RARE experiences which likely require rare physiological circumstances to occur, I doubt you could harness endogenous DMT in any voluntary or intentional manner...
*
This methodology must now be applied to determine the potential role of these compounds in non-drug induced altered states of consciousness with psychedelic features, such as dreams, psychosis, meditation, religious experience, childbirth, and near-death states and we are very eager to do so. This effort has been made even more important following the recent discoveries of Cozzi et al. (5) that the enzyme responsible for synthesis of the endogenous hallucinogens is present in pineal gland, brain, spinal cord and retinal tissues of primates and appears to be an inducible enzyme, an enzyme that responds to specific signals. Therefore, clearly establishing the role of endogenous tryptamine hallucinogens in various states of consciousness will provide tremendous insight into their origin, and may lead to more reliable means of working with and studying their utility.
Misc. Research article:
Abstract
The presence of the potent hallucinogenic psychoactive chemical N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the human body has puzzled scientists for decades. Endogenous DMT was investigated in the 1960s and 1970s and it was proposed that DMT was involved in psychosis and schizophrenia. This hypothesis developed from comparisons of the blood and urine of schizophrenic and control subjects. However, much of this research proved inconclusive and conventional thinking has since held that trace levels of DMT, and other endogenous psychoactive tryptamines, are insignificant metabolic byproducts. The recent discovery of a G-protein-coupled, human trace amine receptor has triggered a reappraisal of the role of compounds present in limited concentrations in biological systems. Interestingly enough, DMT and other psychoactive tryptamine hallucinogens elicit a robust response at the trace amine receptor. While it is currently accepted that serotonin 5-HT(2A) receptors play a pivotal role in the activity of hallucinogenic/psychedelic compounds, we propose that the effects induced by exogenous DMT administration, especially at low doses, are due in part to activity at the trace amine receptor. Furthermore, we suggest that endogenous DMT interacts with the TA receptor to produce a calm and relaxed mental state, which may suppress, rather than promote, symptoms of psychosis. This hypothesis may help explain the inconsistency in the early analysis of endogenous DMT in humans. Finally, we propose that amphetamine action at the TA receptor may contribute to the calming effects of amphetamine and related drugs, especially at low doses.
The presence of the potent hallucinogenic psychoactive chemical N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the human body has puzzled scientists for decades. Endogenous DMT was investigated in the 1960s and 1970s and it was proposed that DMT was involved in psychosis and schizophrenia. This hypothesis...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
As mentioned in the article above, Initially endogenous dimethyltryptamine was investigated in connection with psychosis:
SITARAM BR; MCLEOD WR
Observations on the metabolism of the psychotomimetic indolealkylamines: implications for future clinical studies.
Biol Psychiatry. 1990 Nov 15; 28(10): 841-8
Although the psychotomimetic indolealkylamines N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, and 5-hydroxy-N,N- dimethyltryptamine have been unequivocally identified in human body fluids, evidence relating their concentration to the presence of psychotic illness in humans remains controversial. A series of studies on the metabolism of the compounds in the rat have highlighted the rapidity and with which these are metabolized and renally excreted. The implications of our observation for the interpretation of past clinical studies and the design of future ones is discussed
http://deoxy.org/annex/daytripr.htm#8:grin:
CARPENTER, WILLIAM T; FINK, EDWARD B; NARASIMHACHARI, NEDATHUR; HIMWICH, HAROLD
A test of the transmethylation hypothesis in acute schizophrenic patients.
American Journal of Psychiatry; 1975 Oct Vol 132(10) 1067-1071
An investigation of 3 aspects of the transmethylation hypothesis found that 26 acutely schizophrenic patients were no more likely to have bufotenine or N,N-dimethyltryptamine present in urine or elevated serum indolethylamine N-methyltransferase activity than 10 normal controls. It is concluded that these are naturally occurring substances.
WYATT, R J,; ET AL
Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric isotope dilution determination of N,N-dimethyltryptamine concentrations in normals and psychiatric patients.
Psychopharmacologia; 1973 Vol. 31(3) 265-270
Conducted a g as chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of the plasma N,N-dimethyltryptamine concentration from 8 male and 3 female normals and 19 male and 10 female psychiatric patients (psychotically depressed, chronic and acute schizophrenics). Results show that within the limit of sensitivity of assay (.5-1.8 ng/ml of plasma), there was no difference among the Ss.
WYATT, RICHARD J,; ET AL
The dimethyltryptamine-forming enzyme in blood platelets: A study in monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia.
American Journal of Psychiatry; 1973 Dec Vol. 130(12) 1359-1361
Assayed samples of the nondialyzed platelets of 14 pairs of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia for their ability to form enzymatically the hallucinogen dimethyltryptamine. The schizophrenic twins had higher mean levels of enzyme activity than their nonschizophrenic cotwins, whose mean level of enzyme activity was equal to that of 22 normal nontwin control Ss. This finding suggests that the higher levels of enzyme activity found in schizophrenics is produced by their environment and is not genetically determined.
However more recent research indicates a far more complex role for endogenous DMT, and while still not fully understood, endogenous DMT does appear to be the endogenous ligand for the orphan sigmar-1 receptor:
Abstract
The sigma-1 receptor is widely distributed in the central nervous system and periphery. Originally mischaracterized as an opioid receptor, the sigma-1 receptor binds a vast number of synthetic compounds but does not bind opioid peptides; it is currently considered an orphan receptor. The sigma-1 receptor pharmacophore includes an alkylamine core, also found in the endogenous compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT acts as a hallucinogen, but its receptor target has been unclear. DMT bound to sigma-1 receptors and inhibited voltage-gated sodium ion (Na+) channels in both native cardiac myocytes and heterologous cells that express sigma-1 receptors. DMT induced hypermobility in wild-type mice but not in sigma-1 receptor knockout mice. These biochemical, physiological, and behavioral experiments indicate that DMT is an endogenous agonist for the sigma-1 receptor.
...
The binding, biochemical, physiological, and behavioral studies reported here all support the hypothesis that DMT acts as a ligand for the sigma-1 receptor. On the basis of our binding results and the sigma-1 receptor pharmacophore, endogenous trace amines and their N-methyl and N,N-dimethyl derivatives are likely to serve as endogenous sigma receptor regulators. Moreover, DMT, the only known mammalian N,N-dimethylated trace amine, can activate the sigma-1 receptor to modulate Na+ channels. The recent discovery that the sigma-1 receptor functions as a molecular chaperone (30) may be relevant, because sigma-1 receptors, which are observed in the endoplasmic reticulum, associate with plasma membrane Kv 1.4 channels (22) and may serve as a molecular chaperone for ion channels. Furthermore, the behavioral effect of DMT may be due to activation or inhibition of sigma-1 receptor chaperone activity instead of, or in addition to, DMT/sigma-1 receptor modulation of ion channels. These studies thus suggest that this natural hallucinogen could exert its action by binding to sigma-1 receptors, which are abundant in the brain (1, 27). This discovery may also extend to N,N-dimethylated neurotransmitters such as the psychoactive serotonin derivative N,N-dimethylserotonin (bufotenine), which has been found at elevated concentrations in the urine of schizophrenic patients (10). The finding that DMT and sigma-1 receptors act as a ligand-receptor pair provides a long-awaited connection that will enable researchers to elucidate the biological functions of both of these molecules.
Endogenous dimethyltryptamine, 5-methoxy-DMT, and 5-hydroxy-DMT have been scientifically verified to be natural products of the human body and human metabolism, they exist naturally in all humans, as well as various plants, they also exist in mammals and in fungi as well.
While it was never proven that the human pineal body produces dimethyltryptamine, that in no way effects the biosynthetic pathway for DMT, all necessary enzymes exist in multiple locations of the human body.
DMT is produced from tryptophan, an essential amino acid.
This is the biosynthetic pathway:
Tryptophan is decarboxalated (amino acid decarboxylase) giving tryptamine, this tryptamine is then methylated via indole amine methyl transerase (INMT) and S-Adenosyl methionine, which becomes S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) as it donates its methyl group, giving N-methyl-tryptamine, this NMT is again methylated via indole amine methyl transerase (INMT) and S-Adenosyl methionine, (which again becomes S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) as it donates its methyl group) going N,N-DMT.
the pineal body is not essential in any part of this pathway...
However, DMT still
could be produced in the pineal gland, and has been found to exist in the pineal gland of live rodants:
DMT in the pineal glands of live rodents. The paper will appear in the journal Biomedical Chromatography and describes experiments that took place in Dr. Jimo Borjigin’s laboratory at the University of Michigan, where samples were collected. These samples were analyzed in Dr. Steven Barker’s laboratory at Louisiana State University, using methods that funding from the Cottonwood Research Foundation helped develop
A good deal of tryptamine chemistry occurs involving the pineal gland, serotonin is converted to melatonin and then further converted to 6-methoxy-tetrahydro-beta-carboline (pinoline) in the pineal body.
(Pinoline is near identical in structure to the harmala alkaloids found in B. Caapi and P. Harmala, so not only do you have the endogenous psychedelic tryptamines, you also have endogenous beta-carboline neurotransmitters which are near identical to the plant mono amine oxidase psychoactives used in ayahuasca brews)
I've probably gone on long enough, and will stop here, even though I had quite a bit more to say.
-eg
