Some Effects of Bufotenine and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide on the Monkey

Bufotenine, a chemical relative of serotonin, was first synthesized in 1934 and known to cause temporary changes in blood pressure and breathing in anesthetized dogs. Its effects on unanesthetized animals had not been studied, despite bufotenine being isolated from the bean of Piptadenia peregrina, the source of cohoba, a narcotic snuff used in the West Indies to induce hallucinations and mystical states similar to those produced by mescaline, harmine, and lysergic acid diethylamide. This prompted investigation into bufotenine's behavioral effects.

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION Bufotenine (5 -hydroxy -3 -[2- dimethyl-aminoethyl]-indole) is the N-dimethyl derivative of the vasoconstrictor substance serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine). It was first synthesized by Wieland in 1934. Raymond-Hamet found that intravenous injection of bufotenine caused transient elevation of blood pressure and apnea, followed by tachypnea, in anesthetized dogs.* To date, however, there is little published material concerning the effects of bufotenine on unanesthetized animals. Our interest in such effects was based on the fact that bufotenine was recently isolated from the bean of Piptadenia peregrina,5a bean long known to be the source of cohoba, a narcotic snuff. This snuff has been used by inhabitants of the West Indies to induce hallucinations and mystical states,6states which seem similar to those produced by mescaline, harmine, and lysergic acid diethylamide. It was felt, in view of the reported psychological effects of bufotenine-containing snuff, that it would be worth while to investigate