Two widely marketed novel psychoactive drugs, alpha-methyl-tryptamine and 5-methoxy-N,N-diallyl-tryptamine, were analyzed for their chemical structure and binding to serotonin receptor subtypes. These tryptamine-derived compounds, sold without restriction, can cause psychosis and hallucinations that may lead to injury or death. The study elucidates their structures and receptor binding profiles, providing insight into their pharmacological actions.
Sub-chronic exposure to the NMDA receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) in rats produced localized reductions in grey matter density in the hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and amygdala, along with reduced cortical thickness in the insular cortex. PCP-treated rats also showed impaired sustained visual attention on a 5-choice serial reaction time task, especially under higher attentional load, but no significant effect on attentional filtering in an acoustic startle paradigm. These findings indicate that NMDA receptor antagonism can cause brain structural abnormalities in regions implicated in schizophrenia and dissociable attentional deficits.