3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenylacetaldehyde, an Intermediate Metabolite of Mescaline, Is a Substrate for Microsomal Aldehyde Oxygenase in the Mouse Liver.
Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin January 1, 1995 Kenji Watanabe, Yuichiro Kayano, Tatsuo Matsunaga et al. 9 citations
An intermediate metabolite of mescaline, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetaldehyde, is oxidized to 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid by mouse liver microsomes. The reaction requires NADPH and is inhibited by SKF 525-A, metyrapone, and disulfiram. A specific P450 isozyme, CYP2C29, catalyzes the reaction at a rate of 0.96 nmol/min/nmol P450, with NADPH and NADPH-cytochrome c reductase essential. Oxygen incorporation was confirmed using oxygen-18 gas and GC-MS analysis. Antibody against CYP2C29 inhibited activity by 35%, indicating this isozyme plays a major role. Pharmacological tests in mice showed that mescaline's deaminated metabolites are much less active or inactive in cataleptogenic effect and pentobarbital-induced sleep prolongation compared to mescaline itself.