In vitro stability and metabolism of salvinorin A in rat plasma.
Xenobiotica; the fate of foreign compounds in biological systems May 1, 2009 K Tsujikawa, K Kuwayama, H Miyaguchi et al. 64 citations
Salvinorin A, the main psychoactive compound in Salvia divinorum, breaks down rapidly in rat plasma. At 37 degrees Celsius, its degradation rate constant was 3.8 x 10^(-1) per hour, much faster than at 4 degrees Celsius, where it was less than 6.0 x 10^(-3) per hour. The enzyme carboxylesterase primarily drives this breakdown, as inhibitors of that enzyme strongly suppressed degradation, while inhibitors of other esterases had little effect. The degradation products include salvinorin B (the deacetylated form) and lactone-ring-open forms of both salvinorin A and salvinorin B, with the ring-opening reactions involving a calcium-dependent lactonase.