DMT now found in brain.

[goddard]

the discussion we had forever is now decided

'Mystical' psychedelic compound found in normal brains

In the past few years, thrill-seekers from Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond have been travelling to South America to take part in so-called Ayahuasca retreats. Their goal: to partake in a brewed concoction made from a vine plant Banisteriopsis caapi, traditionally used by indigenous people...

medicalxpress.com

 

[Aum_Shanti]

Already in discussion here:

Biosynthesis and Extracellular Concentrations of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in Mammalian Brain - Science - Welcome to the DMT-Nexus

Funnily it actually IMHO gave rather the final death blow to Strassman's hypothesis.

 

[benzyme]

in rat brains?

hmm..

 

[benzyme]

>90% of serotonin is produced in the gut. It would be far more plausible that dmt production would be there, and in the surrounding peripheral tissues (lungs, heart, and adrenal glands). those tissues are where the cDNA transcripts for INMT have been isolated, from human epithelial cells.

 

[soul-explorer]

"Their goal: to partake in a brewed concoction made from a vine plant Banisteriopsis caapi, traditionally used by indigenous people for sacred religious ceremonies."

They left out the DMT plant ...

 

[Jagube]

>90% of serotonin is produced in the gut. It would be far more plausible that dmt production would be there

What about the MAO in the gut, doesn't it destroy the serotonin and wouldn't it destroy the DMT?

 

[benzyme]

>90% of serotonin is produced in the gut. It would be far more plausible that dmt production would be there

What about the MAO in the gut, doesn't it destroy the serotonin and wouldn't it destroy the DMT?

if by destroy you mean oxidize/metabolize, then yes.

MAO-A is abundant, particularly in the liver, as blood passes through it metabolizing many different compounds. Endogenous levels of trace amines, such as DMT, are several magnitudes lower (1000-10000-fold) than active doses, and are rapidly metabolized by MAO-A. This is why even active doses must be taken efficiently to experience the full effect at the raphe nuclei in the brain.

 

[Jagube]

Ok, I was confused that the body would produce serotonin (or, in fact, DMT) in the gut where the MAO-A would immediately metabolize it. It seems counterproductive to produce something and immediately metabolize it before it gets a chance to do anything, but I was wrongly assuming it had to make it to the brain to 'do something'. So I take it the serotonin and DMT produced in the gut are used in the gut, and exist for as long as they need to, even if that's minutes or even seconds.

 

[benzyme]

Ok, I was confused that the body would produce serotonin (or, in fact, DMT) in the gut where the MAO-A would immediately metabolize it. It seems counterproductive to produce something and immediately metabolize it before it gets a chance to do anything, but I was wrongly assuming it had to make it to the brain to 'do something'. So I take it the serotonin and DMT produced in the gut are used in the gut, and exist for as long as they need to, even if that's minutes or even seconds.

well, serotonin does signal in the gut...that's where most 5HT3 receptors are, and they are responsible for nausea.

the answer lies in the human genome expressing Tryptophan metabolism: serotonin is preferred product in the pathway, and isn't as rapidly metabolized as side products such as simple tryptamines (NMT, DMT, etc.); this aspect also applies to production. The side-reaction pathway that would produce those simple tryptamines is normally inhibited/inactive.

Welcome to the DMT-Nexus enter KEGG Pathway into the posts field

damn...reading my old posts, I came off as rude and impatient. That's not me, dawg. Not anymore, anyway. I'm much more accessible to questions/explanations.

 

[benzyme]

wow, can’t believe I didn’t catch this before...
see that EC# in the upper right, lacking a prefix? 2.1.1.-
that’s 5-HOIMT, 5-Hydroxyindoleethylamine methyltransferase.
that one is expressed in the brain, and converts serotonin to mexamine (5-methoxy-tryptamine).

of course, the brain/dmt production theory has been a matter of great debate.
here is one of many good threads on it.