In vitro stability and metabolism of salvinorin A in rat plasma.

Salvinorin A is the main active psychoactive ingredient in Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant that has been widely available as a hallucinogen in recent years. The aims of this study were to investigate the stability of salvinorin A in rat plasma, esterases responsible for its degradation, and estimation of the degradation products. The apparent first-order rate constants of salvinorin A at 37 degrees C, 25 degrees C, and 4 degrees C were 3.8 x 10(-1), 1.1 x 10(-1), and < 6.0 x 10(-3) h(-1), respectively. Salvinorin A degradation was markedly inhibited by the addition of sodium fluoride, an esterase inhibitor. Moreover, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (serine esterase inhibitor) and bis-p-nitrophenylphosphate (carboxylesterase inhibitor) also inhibited salvinorin A degradation. In contrast, little or no suppression of the degradation was seen with 5,5'-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid (arylesterase inhibitor),ethopropazine (butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor), and BW284c51 (acetylcholineseterase inhibitor). These findings indicated that carboxylesterase was mainly involved in the salvinorin A hydrolysis in rat plasma.4. The degradation products of salvinorin A estimated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry included the deacetylated form (salvinorin B) and the lactone-ring-open forms of salvinorin A and salvinorin B. This lactone-ring-opening reactions were involved in calcium-dependent lactonase.

In vivo metabolism of alpha-methyltryptamine in rats: identification of urinary metabolites.

1. The in vivo metabolism of alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), a psychoactive tryptamine analogue, was studied in rats. 2. Male Wistar rats were administered 10 mg kg(-1) AMT orally and 24-h urine fractions were collected. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the urine sample, the metabolites were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction and analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). 3. 2-Oxo-AMT, 6-hydroxy-AMT, 7-hydroxy-AMT and 1'-hydroxy-AMT were detected as metabolites of AMT.

In vivo metabolism of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylthiophenethylamine in rat.

The in vivo metabolism of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylthiophenethylamine (2C-T-7), a ring-substituted psychoactive phenethylamine, was studied in rat. Male Wistar rats were administered 10 mg/kg 2C-T-7 hydrochloride orally, and 24-h urine fractions were collected. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the urine sample, the metabolites were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction and analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. 2C-T-7-sulfoxide, N-acetyl-2C-T-7-sulfoxide, N-acetyl-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylthiophenethylamine-sulfoxide, N-acetyl-2,5-dimethoxy-4-(2-hydroxypropylthio)phenethylamine-sulfoxide, and N-acetyl-2,5-dimethoxy-4-(2-hydroxypropylthio)phenethylamine-sulfone were detected as the primary metabolites of 2C-T-7. These findings suggest that sulfoxidation, sulfone formation, hydroxylation of the propyl side chain at the beta-position, and S-depropylation followed by methylation of thiol were the major metabolic pathways of 2C-T-7 in rat.

Mutagenicity assay for nitroarenes of air pollutants held in leaves of woody plants.

A new method was developed for the detection of mutagenic nitroarenes held in the leaves of woody plants using a small amount of leaves. This method consists of extraction of mutagen from fresh leaves (15-30 g) by ultrasonication with ethyl acetate and purification by elution with benzene on a silica gel column to remove such inhibitory components for mutagenesis as chlorophyll. The mutation assay uses the new Salmonella typhimurium strains YG1021 (a nitroreductase-overproducing strain of TA98) and YG1024 (an O-acetyltransferase-overproducing strain of TA98), which are very sensitive to some nitroarenes in the absence of S9, and standard strain YG1020 (TA98 containing pBR322-Aps) for comparison. This method was applied to woody plants growing on various sites in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the suburbs. It was shown that the leaves of all woody plants tested contained different amounts of mutagens, probably mutagenic nitroarenes, depending upon their growing sites.