After injection into the abdominal cavity, 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine and N,N-dimethyltryptamine are rapidly taken up by and cleared from all tissues examined. Live-animal experiments confirm earlier lab findings that these compounds are metabolized through oxidative deamination, N-demethylation, O-demethylation, and N-oxidation. Analysis of metabolic profiles across tissues identified N-oxides as major metabolites. Pretreating animals with iproniazid successfully inhibited and redirected metabolism away from indole acids toward the parent compounds and their structurally unique metabolites.
Using liquid chromatography techniques, metabolites of the psychotomimetic compounds N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine were separated and characterized after incubation with rat tissue extracts. In liver, kidney, and brain extracts, metabolic routes included oxidative deamination, N-demethylation, O-demethylation, and N-oxidation. The quantitative importance of each route was assessed using N,N-dimethyltryptamine as a substrate.