B. caapi vine, photo taken from Erowid.org
So, why are these specific plants used? Let’s look at chemistry and pharmacology.
P. viridis berries and leaves, photo taken from Erowid.org
P. viridis and the root bark of M. hostilis contain an alkaloid called N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, otherwise known as DMT. From a chemical structure perspective, DMT is very similar to the neurotransmitter 5-HT (serotonin). DMT is considered a psychedelic tryptamine and its mechanism of action is thought to be via partial 5-HT2A receptor agonism, but much is unknown still to this day. In the human body, DMT is readily degraded in the stomach and small intestine by the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A). And for this reason, DMT’s effects are highly dependent on dose and route of administration. Use of the substance can range from mild psychedelic experiences to powerful hallucinations. It is important to note that DMT is also a trace endogenous compound in the human body.
Adverse effects include hypertension, tachycardia, nausea, diarrhea, body aches, fear, and paranoia. Vomiting is also an adverse effect, but is sometimes considered to be an essential part of the spiritual experience as it represents the release of negative energy and emotions.
Ayahuasca brew, photo taken from Erowid.org
Alexander and Ann Shulgin devote one chapter to ayahuasca and another chapter to DMT in their book on tryptamines, TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved), The Continuation. As with their other book, PiHKAL, I highly recommend TiHKAL as a source of information on the psychedelic and hallucinogenic tryptamines.
Some user reports from TiHKAL regarding the effects of DMT were:
20 mg intramuscularly: I begin to see patterns on the wall that were continuously moving. They were transparent, and were not colored. After a short period these patterns became the heads of animals, a fox, a snake, a dragon. Then kaleidoscopic images appeared to me in my inner eye, fantastically beautiful and colored
50 mg intramuscularly: I feel strange, everything is blurry. I want my mother, I am afraid of fainting, I can’t breathe.
60 mg intramuscularly: I don’t like this feeling – I am not myself. I saw such strange dreams a while ago. Strange creatures, dwarfs or something; they were black and moved about. Now I feel as if I am not alive. My left hand is numb. As if my heart would not beat, as if I had no body, no nothing. All I feel are my left hand and stomach. I don’t like to be without thoughts.
60 mg smoked: Slightly threatening patterns – no insight – slight sense of cruelty and sharpness between us, but enjoying. His face, as before with MDA, demonic but pleasantly so. He said he saw my face as a mask. He asked me to let him see my teeth. I laughed – aware that laughter was slightly not funny. Heavy massive intoxication. Time extension extraordinary. What seemed like 2 hours was 30 minutes.
100 mg smoked: As I exhaled I became terribly afraid, my hear very rapid and strong, palms sweating. A terrible sense of dread and doom filled me – I knew what was happening, I knew I couldn’t stop it, but it was so devastating; I was being destroyed – all that was familiar, all reference points, all identity – all viciously shattered in a few seconds. I couldn’t even mourn the loss – there was no one left to do the mourning. Up, up, out, out, eyes close, I am at the speed of light, expanding, expanding, expanding, faster and faster until I have become so large that I no longer exist – my speed is so great that everything has come to a stop – here I gave upon the universe.
Ayahuasca Invitation by Alex Grey (2001)
One report in postmortem toxicology regarding ayahuasca
involved DMT and its 5-methoxy derivative. Sklerov et al. reported a case of a
25 year old male who was found dead the morning after consuming an ayahuasca
preparation. No anatomical cause of death could be determined at autopsy. Heart
blood was subjected to toxicological analyses and was positive for DMT (0.02
mgL), 5-Methoxy-DMT (1.88 mg/L), tetrahydroharmine (0.38 mg/L), harmaline (0.07
mg/L), and harmine (0.17 mg/L). The cause and manner of death was determined to
be accidental hallucinogenic amine intoxication.
DMT is considered a federally controlled Schedule I
substance in the USA. The legality of ayahuasca has been at conflict in a few
court decisions since 2004. In 2004, the US Supreme Court lifted a stay and
allowed a UDV church to use ayahuasca in service. In 2005-2006, the Supreme
Court heard arguments and ultimately ruled that under the 1993 Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the government must allow the same UDV church
to import and consume ayahuasca for religious ceremonies. In 2008, three
Brazilian churches filed suit to gain legal status to import ayahuasca. The
judge ruled in favor of the churches. In 2009, a federal judge issued a
permanent injunction which barred the government from prohibiting or penalizing
the use of ayahuasca as a sacrament.
Selected References
of Interest
Tittarelli, R., Mannocchi, G., Pantano, F., Romolo, F.S.
(2015) Recreational use, analysis, and toxicity of tryptamines. Curr Neuropharmacol,
13, 26-46.
Liester, M.B., Prickett, J.I. (2012) Hypotheses regarding
the mechanisms of ayahuasca in the treatment of addictions. J Psychoactive
Drugs, 44, 200-208.
Araujo, A.M., Carvalho, F., Bastos Mde, L., Guedes de Pinho,
P., Carvalho, M. (2015) The hallucinogenic world of tryptamines: an updated
review. Arch Toxicol, 89, 1151-1173.
Sklerov, J., Levine, B., Moore, K.A., King, T., Fowler, D.
(2005) A fatal intoxication following the ingestion of
5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine in an ayahuasca preparation. J Anal Tox, 29,
838-841.
Paterson, N.E., Darby, W.C., Sandhu, P.S. (2015)
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine-Induced Psychosis. Clin Neuropharmacol, 38, 141-143.
