Occurrence of bufotenin in the Osteocephalus genus (Anura: Hylidae).
Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology – September 15, 2005
Source: PubMed
Summary
Certain tree frogs from the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests defend themselves with bufotenin, a potent hallucinogen. Using advanced techniques, researchers analyzed the skin secretions of three *Osteocephalus* species. They successfully identified bufotenin in these arboreal amphibians, marking its first discovery in this genus and revealing new insights into their chemical defenses.
Abstract
Bufotenin (5-hydroxy-N,N-dimetyltryptamine) is a tryptamine alkaloid widely spread among anuran families as a component of their chemical defense system, acting as a potent hallucinogenic factor, showing similar activity to LSD upon interaction with the 5HT2 human receptor. This work demonstrates the presence of bufotenin in the skin secretion of three arboreal amphibian species of the Osteocephalus genus (Osteocephalus taurinus, Osteocephalus oophagus and Osteocephalus langsdorffii) from the Amazon and the Atlantic rain forests using RP-HPLC, ESI-MS/MS, UV, IR and multidimensional NMR techniques. To our knowledge, this is the first description of bufotenin in the Osteocephalus genus, so far.