LSD and structural analogs: pharmacological
evaluation at D1 dopamine receptors
by
Watts VJ, Lawler CP, Fox DR,
Neve KA, Nichols DE, Mailman RB
Department of Pharmacology,
University of North Carolina School of Medicine,
Chapel Hill 27599-7250, USA.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1995 Apr; 118(4):401-9

ABSTRACT

The hallucinogenic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have been attributed primarily to actions at serotonin receptors. A number of studies conducted in the 1970s indicated that LSD also has activity at dopamine (DA) receptors. These latter studies are difficult to interpret, however, because they were completed before the recognition of two pharmacologically distinct DA receptor subtypes, D1 and D2. The availability of subtype-selective ligands (e.g., the D1 antagonist SCH23390) and clonal cell lines expressing a homogeneous receptor population now permits an assessment of the contributions of DA receptor subtypes to the DA-mediated effects of LSD. The present study investigated the binding and functional properties of LSD and several lysergamide and analogs at dopamine D1 and D2 receptors. Several of these compounds have been reported previously to bind with high affinity to serotonin 5HT2 (i.e., 3H-ketanserin) sites in the rat frontal cortex (K0.5 5-30 nM). All tested compounds also competed for both D1-like (3H-SCH 23390) and D2-like (3H-spiperone plus unlabeled ketanserin) DA receptors in rat striatum, with profiles indicative of agonists (nH < 1.0). The affinity of LSD and analogs for D2 like receptors was similar to their affinity for 5HT2 sites. The affinity for D1 like receptors was slightly lower (2- to 3-fold), although LSD and several analogs bound to D1 receptors with affinity similar to the prototypical D1 partial agonist SKF38393 (K0.5 ca. 25 nM). A second series of experiments tested the binding and functional properties of LSD and selected analogs in C-6 glioma cells expressing the rhesus macaque D1A receptor.

LSD
MDMA
Opioids
Lisuride
Serotonin
Mescaline
Psilocybin
Psychedelics
Cannabinoids
LSD and serotonin
Lysergamide: structure
MAOIs and hallucinogens
LSD, mysticism and serotonin
Nexus, cathinone, BDB, and MDA
Hofmann's LSD: My Problem Child

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