Pragna Gaur , Liam Engel , Damian Robert Hall , Cheang Khoo , Jerome Sarris , Daniel Perkins , Chun Guang Li , Mitchell Low
{"title":"建立了一种hplc -(ESI)MS/MS法测定圣佩德罗(Trichocereus spp.)致幻次级代谢物美斯卡灵的含量及其在其他仙人掌品种中筛选美斯卡灵的适用性。","authors":"Pragna Gaur , Liam Engel , Damian Robert Hall , Cheang Khoo , Jerome Sarris , Daniel Perkins , Chun Guang Li , Mitchell Low","doi":"10.1016/j.forc.2025.100659","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Commencements of clinical trials of psychedelic therapies for intractable forms of mental illnesses have drawn increased public attention to plants containing psychedelic substances. Whilst the psychoactive alkaloid mescaline has limited clinical trials, the San Pedro (<em>Trichocereus</em> spp.) cacti from which it is found have a long history of Indigenous medical and spiritual use. Traditional use remains licit in some jurisdictions, as supervised psychedelic dosage is typically regarded as tolerable with reports of only mild intoxications and few persisting negative psychological effects. However, mescaline concentration in ornamental San Pedro is highly variable, introducing risk of unintentional low or high dosage if misdirected for illicit use. This paper reports a validated UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS method for the convenient and rapid quantification of mescaline in San Pedro, and for screening twelve potentially untested cacti. Preliminary results indicated that there may be higher amounts of mescaline in the chlorenchyma than the parenchyma of San Pedro. While six cacti lacked detectable mescaline, our screening enabled the first quantifications of mescaline in two varieties of <em>Echinopsis subdenudata</em> from 36 μg g<sup>−1</sup> to 2.45 mg g<sup>−1</sup>. Chemotaxonomically, this amount of mescaline in a species from the traditional <em>Echinopsis</em> genus further suggests that the <em>Trichocereus</em> genus is not distinct and may support their contested combination into a single genus. Forensically, the identification of a popular ornamental cactus that was previously not known to contain mescaline demonstrates the need for routine screening of other cacti for the forensic sciences to remain ahead of emerging trends in psychedelic drug use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":324,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Chemistry","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 100659"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"A UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS method for the determination of the psychedelic secondary metabolite mescaline in San Pedro (Trichocereus spp.) and its applicability for screening mescaline in other cacti varieties.\",\"authors\":\"Pragna Gaur , Liam Engel , Damian Robert Hall , Cheang Khoo , Jerome Sarris , Daniel Perkins , Chun Guang Li , Mitchell Low\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.forc.2025.100659\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>Commencements of clinical trials of psychedelic therapies for intractable forms of mental illnesses have drawn increased public attention to plants containing psychedelic substances. Whilst the psychoactive alkaloid mescaline has limited clinical trials, the San Pedro (<em>Trichocereus</em> spp.) cacti from which it is found have a long history of Indigenous medical and spiritual use. Traditional use remains licit in some jurisdictions, as supervised psychedelic dosage is typically regarded as tolerable with reports of only mild intoxications and few persisting negative psychological effects. However, mescaline concentration in ornamental San Pedro is highly variable, introducing risk of unintentional low or high dosage if misdirected for illicit use. This paper reports a validated UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS method for the convenient and rapid quantification of mescaline in San Pedro, and for screening twelve potentially untested cacti. Preliminary results indicated that there may be higher amounts of mescaline in the chlorenchyma than the parenchyma of San Pedro. While six cacti lacked detectable mescaline, our screening enabled the first quantifications of mescaline in two varieties of <em>Echinopsis subdenudata</em> from 36 μg g<sup>−1</sup> to 2.45 mg g<sup>−1</sup>. Chemotaxonomically, this amount of mescaline in a species from the traditional <em>Echinopsis</em> genus further suggests that the <em>Trichocereus</em> genus is not distinct and may support their contested combination into a single genus. Forensically, the identification of a popular ornamental cactus that was previously not known to contain mescaline demonstrates the need for routine screening of other cacti for the forensic sciences to remain ahead of emerging trends in psychedelic drug use.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":324,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Forensic Chemistry\",\"volume\":\"44 \",\"pages\":\"Article 100659\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-03-24\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Forensic Chemistry\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468170925000219\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Forensic Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468170925000219","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
A UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS method for the determination of the psychedelic secondary metabolite mescaline in San Pedro (Trichocereus spp.) and its applicability for screening mescaline in other cacti varieties.
Commencements of clinical trials of psychedelic therapies for intractable forms of mental illnesses have drawn increased public attention to plants containing psychedelic substances. Whilst the psychoactive alkaloid mescaline has limited clinical trials, the San Pedro (Trichocereus spp.) cacti from which it is found have a long history of Indigenous medical and spiritual use. Traditional use remains licit in some jurisdictions, as supervised psychedelic dosage is typically regarded as tolerable with reports of only mild intoxications and few persisting negative psychological effects. However, mescaline concentration in ornamental San Pedro is highly variable, introducing risk of unintentional low or high dosage if misdirected for illicit use. This paper reports a validated UHPLC-(ESI)MS/MS method for the convenient and rapid quantification of mescaline in San Pedro, and for screening twelve potentially untested cacti. Preliminary results indicated that there may be higher amounts of mescaline in the chlorenchyma than the parenchyma of San Pedro. While six cacti lacked detectable mescaline, our screening enabled the first quantifications of mescaline in two varieties of Echinopsis subdenudata from 36 μg g−1 to 2.45 mg g−1. Chemotaxonomically, this amount of mescaline in a species from the traditional Echinopsis genus further suggests that the Trichocereus genus is not distinct and may support their contested combination into a single genus. Forensically, the identification of a popular ornamental cactus that was previously not known to contain mescaline demonstrates the need for routine screening of other cacti for the forensic sciences to remain ahead of emerging trends in psychedelic drug use.
期刊介绍:
Forensic Chemistry publishes high quality manuscripts focusing on the theory, research and application of any chemical science to forensic analysis. The scope of the journal includes fundamental advancements that result in a better understanding of the evidentiary significance derived from the physical and chemical analysis of materials. The scope of Forensic Chemistry will also include the application and or development of any molecular and atomic spectrochemical technique, electrochemical techniques, sensors, surface characterization techniques, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, chemometrics and statistics, and separation sciences (e.g. chromatography) that provide insight into the forensic analysis of materials. Evidential topics of interest to the journal include, but are not limited to, fingerprint analysis, drug analysis, ignitable liquid residue analysis, explosives detection and analysis, the characterization and comparison of trace evidence (glass, fibers, paints and polymers, tapes, soils and other materials), ink and paper analysis, gunshot residue analysis, synthetic pathways for drugs, toxicology and the analysis and chemistry associated with the components of fingermarks. The journal is particularly interested in receiving manuscripts that report advances in the forensic interpretation of chemical evidence. Technology Readiness Level: When submitting an article to Forensic Chemistry, all authors will be asked to self-assign a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to their article. The purpose of the TRL system is to help readers understand the level of maturity of an idea or method, to help track the evolution of readiness of a given technique or method, and to help filter published articles by the expected ease of implementation in an operation setting within a crime lab.