Tryptoline, also known as 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline (THβC) and tetrahydronorharmane (THN), is a natural organic derivative of β-carboline.[1] It is an alkaloid chemically related to tryptamines.[1] Derivatives of tryptoline have a variety of pharmacological properties and are known collectively as tryptolines.[2]
Use and effects
The properties and effects of tryptoline in humans do not appear to be known.[1]
In-vivo formation of tryptolines has been a matter of controversy.[3][1]
Tryptoline shows weak affinity for the serotonin 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors (Ki = 2,510nM and 3,900nM, respectively).[5] However, it showed a high affinity (Ki) of 28nM against tryptamine–labeledbinding sites, whereas affinity for serotonin- and spiperone-labeled sites were much lower (Ki = 6,030nM and 12,030nM, respectively).[6][7] The drug shows substantially lower affinity for serotonin receptors than tryptamine.[6][7] Tryptoline is 60-fold more potent in terms of tryptamine binding site interaction than its serotonin reuptake inhibition.[7] The drug is inactive as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor in the rat fundus stomach strip (KB = >3,000nM).[8]
^ abcdShulgin, Alexander; Shulgin, Ann (September 1997). TiHKAL: The Continuation. Berkeley, California: Transform Press. ISBN 0-9630096-9-9. OCLC38503252.
https://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal44.shtml “Tetrahydro-β-carboline (THβC, tryptoline) has also been demonstrated as being formed in the brain by the simple fusion of tryptamine with formaldehyde, from methyltetrahydrofolate, and it is a normal component of human urine. It is the structural icon of the family of tetrahydro-β-carbolines without the methyl group at the 1-position, sometimes called the “tryptolines.” It, and the 2-methyl homologue mentioned just above, are both natural metabolites of DMT. I had the lucky timing to be present at a seminar at the Department of Pharmacology, at the U.C. Medical School in San Francisco, when the crowd from Stanford came up to give the first San Francisco unveiling of the “tryptoline” word. I remember that I was not the only chemist in the audience who groaned at the use of a totally unneeded and artificial name. But these researchers did a lot of work and a lot of publishing, and the term is now pretty well established in the literature. A cautionary note is appropriate here. It is essential, in abbreviating this material as THβC that the “β” be included. Without it, the code “THC” will be assumed immediately to stand for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active component of marijuana.”
^ abcTaylor EW, Nikam S, Weck B, Martin A, Nelson D (October 1987). “Relative selectivity of some conformationally constrained tryptamine analogs at 5-HT1, 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 recognition sites”. Life Sci. 41 (16): 1961–1969. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(87)90749-1. PMID3657392.
^Audia JE, Evrard DA, Murdoch GR, Droste JJ, Nissen JS, Schenck KW, Fludzinski P, Lucaites VL, Nelson DL, Cohen ML (July 1996). “Potent, selective tetrahydro-beta-carboline antagonists of the serotonin 2B (5HT2B) contractile receptor in the rat stomach fundus”. J Med Chem. 39 (14): 2773–2780. doi:10.1021/jm960062t. PMID8709108.