The intracranial injection of drugs in goldfish. II. Preliminary report of behavior of serotonin as a potential hallucinogen when injected intracranially and intraabdominally.

Serotonin, when injected intracranially and intraabdominally into goldfish produces the surfacing reaction typical of hallucinogenic compounds active in man. It is suggested that serotonin disorders in the brain in man might be connected with the schizophrenias.

The intracranial injection of drug in goldfish. I: Hallucinogens and their antagonism to smooth muscle activity.

A simplified method of studying the surfacing reaction of goldfish to hallucinogens is described. Goldfish weighing up to three grams are injected intracranially. Employing this method, d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25), d-2-acetyl lysergic acid diethylamide (ALD-52), 1-methyl d-lysergic acid butano-lamide (UML-491), and 5-methoxy dimethyl tryptamine (5-MEO-DMT) were found to be as pharmacologically active as previously noted in fish and in man. The relationship of these drugs to their anti-serotonin activity is of particular interest to the allergist because of the way in which the congeners and derivatives of LSD block the action of serotonin on smooth muscle.