If INMT isn't found in the brain, but it's found in the lungs (which makes more sense logically for the production of DMT like D_Juggz said at the end of the Mythbusters of DMT thread, then that's where DMT is produced in the stressful situations, right? If it's still endogenous, but it's not from the brain, wouldn't that be the mechanism that generates the DMT? Also, remember that Alex Shulgin reported that DOB (I think it was DOB, but I'm not sure) is metabolized in the lungs into something that's psychoactive, which is why it takes a while to come on.

If this is the method for endogenous DMT production because INMT is expressed there, what about the other enzyme that Strassman theorized could play a role: hydroxindole-0-methyl transferase (HIOMT)? If it's expressed there, it could also form 5-MeO-DMT if Serotonin was used from the start instead of tryptamine, but if HIOMT wasn't involved but Serotonin was, wouldn't it be possible to form Bufotenine?

I don't see the logical connection between the lungs and endogenous DMT production. My guess is that serotonin is metabolized in the blood in any number of places and acts on receptors in the brain. Even if it's not produced there, I have little doubt that's where it's exerting its influence.

The gene that makes the enzyme that converts tryptamine into DMT and serotonin into bufotenine is found most in the lungs. Therefore, the most enzyme of it is in the lungs.
https://dmt-nexus.me/for...osts&t=11758&p=4
http://www.scribd.com/do...r-Dimethyltryptamine-DMT

Mmmmm, pranayam...(~>

I was always lead to believe that DNA and its constituent genes were uniform throughout the body.

No, otherwise you wouldn't have certain specialized cells for doing certain things through the body. We have epigenetics, too, where the genes are physically present but some higher software in the body is controlling when the gene is working, sort of like an on/off switch.

At least, that's how I've come to believe it works. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I might be.

Yeah, having the gene does not mean that you express it as well. It ls like saying that nerve cells produce haemoglobin because they have the haemoglobin gene, which is untrue.

On a related note, INMT enzyme may not be present but it may be expressed in the pineal under certain times. Pineal has in theory the potential for its expression. But with the absence of even the slightest hint of this happening, to say that the pineal transcribes and translates the INMT at special times is over-theorising.

The lung theory makes more sense at the moment for those who wish to theorise; breathing exercises -> dmt producion ->altered states

*sigh* where to begin.
Sorry guys i'd like to get really involved with this topic, it really fascinates me, (first its important to have a general and solid understanding of human physiology from a molecular level up) - this has taken me 6 years and I'm still only on the tip of the iceberg.
I'll try post some links as soon as i get some time away from uni. I must admit I have not even begun to look into the production of bufotenine in the brain.
{Side note: Toastus is right, Globalswg, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cells - our bodies start as stem cells which 'differentiate' (or specialize) into certain functional cells. From that point they cannot go back to, except for some exceptions, stem cells}

There is quite a bit of new literature from peer reviewed medical journals, investigating endogenous DMT and hypothesising its role. I think we are still a long way off fully elucidating the entire mechanism and function, many scientists need to take some DMT in order to understand (imo).
http://crfdl.org:1111/xmlui/handle/123456789/381

Although the CNS contains less than 2% of the total serotonin in the body, serotonin plays a very important role in a range of brain functions. It is synthesised from the amino acid tryptophan mostly in the pineal gland (form what i know) but also in the vascular tissue. Now this is where it gets complex and interesting. There are many different subtypes of serotonin receptors, all serving different functions. The vascular serotonin seems to be separate from the CNS system. I'm not sure how it works, but i would like to find out. My theory would be that there are different types of serotonin molecules, with different affinities to those receptors.
Following is the post on my theory of the mechanism behind endogenous DMT regulation...
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...osts&t=11758&p=4

will do some more reading when i have time and post some more. would appreciate some positive research form you guys, try using google scholar or pubmed by searching for recent research on endogenous DMT production.

Blessings.
D_J

Yeah I see where you're coming from. I was also always lead to believe that the reason for the high success of the breathing exercises stemmed from the idea that your eyes are usually closed during them which would trigger a higher production of melatonin which would in some way affect our metabolization of DMT.

What I'm interested in more is if the HIOMT is also expressed in the lungs where INMT is. If so, it's possible that the body is also capable of making 5-MeO-DMT at certain times.

well yes its proven that both 5-meo-dmt and bufotenine are endogenously produced, if thats what youre asking... but where in the body they are produced, I dont know

The quickest answer would be to find out if HIOMT is expressed in the lungs.

Google has failed me yet again...
What resources do you guys use to find these things out?

The best available resources; scientific literature.

Check Pubmed, the most frequently used repository of scientific abstracts (often with links to the whole papers).

Also, HIOMT expression has not been looked at in the lungs AFAIK.

When I was looking around, I found hints that HIOMT was expressed in the lungs, but the articles in question had to be purchased to be looked at fully... T_T

What hints?!?

Dare to share or you prefer to leave it a mystery? And what is hint? it is either expressed or not

XD
Google quotes the articles when you're searching on Google... My methods are primitive and have yet to evolve to your higher methods of obtaining information. They are currently in the process of evolving.

Endlessness, you got link for those studies?

Also appears to be DMT in other higher mammals, like rats:

http://www.sciencedirect...674b22293a18ec0b218d3db1

Juggz, you mean of the existence of endogenous bufotenine and 5-meo-dmt? Here's one of them:

Med Hypotheses. 2009 Jan;72(1):91-4. Epub 2008 Sep 20.
Endogenous hallucinogens as ligands of the trace amine receptors: a possible role in sensory perception.

http://www.erowid.org/re...=7404&DocPartID=6553

Having practiced meditation in a variety of ways for most of my life, and had a significaat number of amazing experiences that in many ways resemble the things discussed on this site, I am ingrigued by the biochemical connections - whatever they may be - between meditation and psychadelics.

Learning about Dr. Strassman's concept of endogenous DMT production is actually what led me to this site, but from what I gather, it is still unproven and perhaps even unlikely that DMT is produced in the pineal gland. Some modern interpreations of meditative/yogic traditions suggest the pineal is or is realted to the "seventh chakra"...and who wouldn't be surprised if a flood of DMT or a similar cocktail of chemicals into it is connected to samadhi or whatever one chooses to call it.

But learning about this INMT/lung connection is really fascinating me: if there really does develop one day a purely biochemical explanation of "enlightenment", then its most likely going to involve multiple body processes.

Controlled breathing is not only a yogic-type exercise on its own (called pranayama in some traditions, and the instructions for doing it can get rather complex), but also part of many meditative practices. Many of these traditions postulate a mind-breath link. On the most basic level, many people have experienced the calming-down effects of taking a few slow, deep breaths ("take a deep breath and count to 10" before you say or do something stupid...). But it does go much deeper than that.

Just an example: a number of years ago, at least a year removed from any psychadelic ingestion on my part, I had just gone to bed and decided to do a little deep breathing exercise before dropping off to sleep. So I began to practice a watered-down verison of pranayama breathing, while at the same time making a semi-successful effort to "turn off my thinking" (a tricky part of meditating for many people). I did this with eyes open. Within a few minutes, everything in my bedroom field of vision, including the space, looked as if it were made of shimmering, self-illuminated blue dots...I thought, wow, this is interesting...it stayed with me for another minute or two....then within the span of a few seconds my mind/consciousness felt like it were tied on to a rocket and quickly pulled into outer space where it expanded with infinite speed...I knew that I could know anything there was to know since...well, I WAS everything...and then of course, I just barely managed to tell myself , like whoa, how are you going to go to class tomorrow?, etc etc...and with some effort I was able to pull myself out of it. But the next night, the same exact thing happened.

You can poke around this Forum and find some very similar DMT experiences. For me, the most important question is not how one can use DMT or meditation - or both - to get experiences like this, but how to get experiences like this and still "get to class the next morning". I think the body is designed to do that, if we can just figure out what our particular body and mind demand from us to get there. Or perhaps someone will come up with DMT-2 one day that does the same thing. Something tells me, however, that would be cheating.

Here's interesting information for you:

Biogenesis of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine in human pineal gland

now the problem is to find a full version of it.. but from the preview page one can read:




maybe someone can find the full article for us? This article is not subscribed by my uni...