Ion Channels Affected by LSD :: Hallucinogens Drugs Essays

Ion Channels Affected by lysergic acid diethylamideResearch with lysergic acid diethylamide has been very limited by two study particularors lack of compassionate subjects and laws against it as a coverled substance. These deterrents have caused a huge hole in what can be discovered ab off this psychodelic drug at the ion channels it affects and in turn those effects on repressing and excitatory potentials of the cell.It was difficult to obtain clear explanations about exactly what was dismissal on at the neuron level. Later it was discovered that most experiments were carried out on rodents. This may not sound like it is such a bad thing because human subjects were not being put in positions where their health could be affected by the drug, but in fact there is a slight difference in rodent and human brains. lysergic acid diethylamide affects a serotonergic receptor type 2A (5-HT2A), which is different in rats to man in its structure and activity, and behavior may not strict ly reduplicate those in humans (Nichols, 2004). This could cause researches to get different results in what they would decide in experimental rats and to what may actually be happening in humans. Another deterrent that has somewhat slowed down the process of understanding LSD at the neuron level is the law. LSD is scheduled as a controlled substance Schedule I, to be exact, which means that it is illegal to posses, sell, or corrupt without a DEA endorse. You can imagine what would happen if a researcher was caught with a substantial amount of LSD, and possibly the difficulty in obtaining a license that testament allow someone to posses a powerful illegal substance. These things are exactly what will repel researchers from using such a substance. The solely almost certain aspect of LSD is that it has a similar chemical substance composition as serotonin (5-HT) and will especially act on 5-HT2 receptors. However, LSD is the only known hallucinogen to bind to dopamine receptors. It will activate postsynaptic dopamine receptors if the dose is high enough to do so. LSD also binds to alpha-adrenergic and beta-adrenergic receptors that are involved sympathetic nervous system control of smooth muscles. It is also a competitive opposition at histamine receptors and will produce inhibitory messages. LSD also acts mysteriously on the optical cortex. At low doses, LSD will stimulate the visual cortex and higher doses will inhibit this area. LSD research has flipped it from being an antagonist to an