DISTRIBUTION AND METABOLISM OF MESCALINE-C IN THE CAT BRAIN

¹ Department of Pharmacology and Department of Radiochemistry, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Autoradiograms of serial sectiomis and extractions of selected neuroanatomical areas of the brain removed from cats at various times after the intravenous injection of mescaline--C¹⁴ HCl indicated a relatively high concentration of radioactivity in cortical amid subcortical gray matter. In contrast, areas composed largely of myelinated fibers evidenced relatively little activity. Removal of mescaline from the blood, plasma and CSF followed a first order rate; the biological half-life of mescaline in plasma and CSF was 90 to 120 minutes. Maximum concentration of mescaline in the brain was attained between and 2 hours, which corresponded approximateIy to the period of maximal intoxication as evaluated by gross observation.

Only two radioactive components, identified as mescaline and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid (TMPA), were found in cat brain, plasma, CSF and urine after the administration of C¹⁴- labeled mescaline. Chromatographic analysis did not reveal the presence, in these samples, of any of a number of other postulated metabolites of mescaline. Indirect evidence suggests that mescaline may be biotransformed to TMPA in cat brain.