Differential tolerance to hyperthermia induced by lysergic acid diethylamide and dimethyltryptamine is paralleled by differential desensitisation of frontocortical, but not hypothalamic serotonin 2 receptors
It is known that serotonergic hallucinogens, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), produce profound alterations of human consciousness, which –when repeatedly applied– substantially decrease or completely disappear. The only exception to this rule seems to be the sHG dimethyltryptamine (DMT), whose psychedelic effect for reasons unknown even with multiple applications reappears. As sHGs are thought to alter human consciousness by activation of serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptors, we here use an animal model of 5-HT2(A) activity (i.e. hyperthermia) and [35S]GTPγS binding techniques in rat brain homogenates to investigate whether differences in regulation of 5-HT2(A) receptors might account for the differential tolerance development noted for LSD and DMT in humans.
Biography
Tobias Buchborn is a German psychologist who does neuropharmacological research on serotonergic hallucinogens. He studied Psychology at the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, and within his Diploma thesis investigated the antidepressant-like properties of LSD in an animal model of depression. Currently, Tobias Buchborn concludes his PhD thesis in Neuroscience at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology in Magdeburg. His research addresses the behavioural and molecular biological correlates of tolerance to LSD, DMT, and DOB. In June 2016, Tobias Buchborn will start working as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Imperial College in London. Here, his research will be devoted to the relevance of 5-HT2A-glutamate interaction and cortical layer V pyramidal cells for the action of serotonergic hallucinogens.