Muscimol

Other Names Agarin, 5-(aminomethyl)-3- [2H] -isoxazolone, pyroibotenic acid, 3-hydroxy-5-aminomethyl-isoxazole Substance type: amino acid, isoxazole derivative Muscimol was first described in 1964 as a constituent of Amanita pantherina. Muscimol is the decarboxylated product of ibotenic acid and is considered to be more psychoactive than it. Some 15 to 20 mg is regarded as a psychoactive dosage (Muller and Eugster 1965; Ott 1993,446*; Scotti et al. 1969). Muscimol is an analog of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) and docks to its receptor (Johnston 1971). Kavapyrones (cf. Piper methysticum) also bind to the same receptor. Ibotenic acid as well as muscimol were detected in the urine of people who had eaten fly agaric mushrooms (Amanita muscaria) about an hour earlier. An experiment with mice conducted by the same team of researchers found that the amount of active constituents in the urine passed by one inebriated animal was not sufficient to inebriate another animal (Ott et al. 1975).

Commercial Forms and Regulations Muscimol can be purchased from chemical suppliers. The substance is legal and is not subject to any specific regulations. Literature See also the entries for Amanita muscaria and ibotenic acid. Johnston, G. A. R. 1971. Muscimol and the uptake of ,),-aminobutyric acid by rat brain slices. Psychopharmacologia 22:230. Muller, G. F. R., and C. H. Eugster. 1965. Muscimol, ein pharmakodynamisch wirksamer Stoff aus Amanita muscaria. Helvetica Chemica Acta 48:910-26. Ott, Jonathan, Preston S. Wheaton, and William Scott Chilton. 1975. Fate of muscimol in the mouse. Physiol. Chem. and Physics 7:381-84. Scotti de Carolis, A., et al. 1969. Neuropharmacological investigations on muscimol, a psychotropic drug extracted from Amanita muscaria. Psychopharmacologia 15:186-95.