Acetylcysteine aborting a psychedelic trip?

[polymath]

Here's a paper in which it is claimed that N-acetylcysteine can block the effects of LSD-like psychedelics and also dissociatives. It's said to happen because of a downstream effect on mGluR2/3 receptors.

N-acetylcysteine modulates hallucinogenic 5-HT(2A) receptor agonist-mediated responses: behavioral, molecular, and electrophysiological studies - PubMed

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been reported to reverse the psychotomimetic effects in the rodent phencyclidine model of psychosis and shown beneficial effects in treating patients with schizophrenia. The effect of NAC has been associated with facilitating the activity of cystine-glutamate...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Abstract
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been reported to reverse the psychotomimetic effects in the rodent phencyclidine model of psychosis and shown beneficial effects in treating patients with schizophrenia. The effect of NAC has been associated with facilitating the activity of cystine-glutamate antiporters on glial cells concomitant with the release of non-vesicular glutamate, which mainly stimulates the presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 receptors (mGluR2). Recent evidence demonstrated that functional interactions between serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT(2A)R) and mGluR2 are responsible to unique cellular responses when targeted by hallucinogenic drugs. The present study determined the effects of NAC on hallucinogenic 5-HT(2A)R agonist (±)1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI)-elicited behavioral and molecular responses in mice and DOI-evoked field potentials in the mouse cortical slices. NAC significantly attenuated DOI-induced head twitch response and expression of c-Fos and Egr-2 in the infralimbic and motor cortex and suppressed the increase in the frequency of excitatory field potentials elicited by DOI in the medial prefrontal cortex. In addition, the cystine-glutamate antiporter inhibitor (S)-4-carboxyphenylglycine (CPG) and the mGluR2 antagonist LY341495 reversed the suppressing effects of NAC on DOI-induced head twitch and molecular responses and increased frequency of excitatory field potentials, supporting that NAC attenuates the 5-HT(2A)R-mediated hallucinogenic effects via increased activity of cystine-glutamate antiporter followed by activation of mGluR2 receptors. These findings implicate NAC as a potential therapeutic agent for hallucinations and psychosis associated with hallucinogen use and schizophrenia.

I didn't find anything about this from Bluelight with the search function, so decided to post this. MGluR2 antagonists potentiate the effects of psilocybin, etc., but they often have complicated looking fused cyclopropane ring structures and could be difficult or expensive to produce:

MGS-0039 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Otherwise that could possibly be used to increase the effect of low-grade psychedelics like morning glory seeds. Using acetylcysteine for an extended period of time and then quitting could also desensitize the mGluR2 receptors.

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

Very interesting ! Any idea of dosage?

I'm going to make my own tests, you just never know when this may come in handy

 

[polymath]

It's taken in repeated doses of several grams when used as an antidote for acetaminophen overdose, so it has low toxicity except for those who are allergic to it (in that case it's given with a large dose of antihistamines)

Acetylcysteine for Acetaminophen Poisoning

A 25-year-old man presents to the emergency department with a toothache. During the evaluation, the physician determines that the patient has been taking large doses of over-the-counter acetaminophen along with an acetaminophen–hydrocodone product ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

According to current FDA-approved protocols for the treatment of acute acetaminophen ingestion, oral acetylcysteine is given as a loading dose of 140 mg per kilogram of body weight, with maintenance doses of 70 mg per kilogram that are repeated every 4 hours for a total of 17 doses.6 The intravenous loading dose is 150 mg per kilogram over a period of 15 to 60 minutes, followed by an infusion of 12.5 mg per kilogram per hour over a 4-hour period, and finally an infusion of 6.25 mg per kilogram per hour over a 16-hour period.21 The dose does not require adjustment for renal or hepatic impairment or for dialysis.

In this study it was used at a dose of 2700 mg/day as an experimental antipsychotic:

N-acetylcysteine add-on treatment leads to an improvement of fornix white matter integrity in early psychosis: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial - Translational Psychiatry

Mechanism-based treatments for schizophrenia are needed, and increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress may be a target. Previous research has shown that N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant and glutathione (GSH) precursor almost devoid of side effects, improved negative symptoms...

www.nature.com

In brief, NAC (2700 mg/day) or placebo was administered to each EP patient for 6 months following a double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled design. As previously shown17,28, tolerability was excellent, with NAC patients showing no more side effects on the UKU scale29 compared with placebo

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

Thanks,
It's available in 600, 1000, and 1200 mg capsules so that 2700 mg orally seems reasonable as a 1st attempt at aborting an 100 ug LSD dose, correct?

 

[polymath]

Thanks,
It's available in 600, 1000, and 1200 mg capsules so that 2700 mg orally seems reasonable as a 1st attempt at aborting an 100 ug LSD dose, correct?

Possibly, but I'm not sure how quickly it takes effect.

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

Yes, that's what I guess I was trying to determine.

I don't need to abort a trip now, but am willing to experiment and see if it is indeed practical. I have years of experience (since the 1960's) with LSD so I am comfortable with the experience enough to be confident that even if it didn't work, I would not be affected in any negative way at 100 ug as a baseline.

 

[Gaffy]

N-acetyl-Cysteine intake during amphetamine use didn't change anything to the high but did ease tremors and delusional ideation along with alcohol use!

It's not the first time I read about naC being used as an antipsychotic and so i acquired some three years ago to try it out. Along with amp sulfate I have to say that your pee does start to smell really bad after a few days of intake though!