Indolethylamine N-methyltransferase (INMT) is not essential for endogenous tryptamine-dependent methylation activity in rats.
Scientific reports January 6, 2023 Nicolas G Glynos, Lily Carter, Soo Jung Lee et al. 17 citations
Indolethylamine N-methyltransferase (INMT) is an enzyme known for producing the psychedelic compound DMT in mammalian brains. Researchers created INMT-knockout rats to determine whether INMT is necessary for DMT production. Brain and lung tissues from both normal and INMT-knockout rats showed equal levels of tryptamine-dependent activity, but the resulting products were neither NMT nor DMT. Rat INMT alone was also insufficient for producing NMT or DMT. These findings indicate an alternative enzymatic pathway for DMT biosynthesis exists in rats, motivating further investigation into how mammals produce DMT naturally.