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Misc When something is snorted does it go directly to the brain, or circulate body first?

pbuilder

pbuilder

Bluelighter
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Oct 24, 2011
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When you snort and the substance is absorbed through the mucus membrane, which way is that blood flowing? Is it going up towards the brain, or back towards the rest of the body first?
 
I have read that some of the drug goes directly to the brain via the cerebrospinal fluid, as well as into venous circulation, which is transported to the heart and pumped out to the body.
 
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In the sinus, arterial blood flows to the tissues, and venous blood returns to the heart. The brain's blood supply is seperate from the rest of the body, hence "blood-brain barrier".

Snorting a drug does not send it directly into the CSF.
 
From a non-advanced standpoint, do you really think your body would have a direct route to the brain for anything from the external environment?

If things that go up your nose went straight to the brain, I'm pretty sure we'd have bigger problems than drug abuse.
 
^^ If you are going to cite a paper, it'd be useful if you quote it as well so people don't have to go through it to find the part you are referring to.

Pathways

The olfactory epithelium is a gateway for substances entering the CNS and the peripheral circulation. The neural connections between the nasal mucosa and the brain provide a unique pathway for the non-invasive delivery of therapeutic agents to the CNS. 9,11,26 The olfactory neural pathway provides both an intraneuronal and extraneuronal pathway into the brain. 27-29 The intraneuronal pathway involves axonal transport and requires hours to days for drugs to reach different brain regions. While the extraneuronal pathway probably relies on bulk flow transport through perineural channels, which deliver drugs directly to the brain parenchymal tissue and/or CSF. The extraneuronal pathway allows therapeutic agents to reach the CNS within minutes. 30-33 Intranasal delivery of agents to the CSF is not surprising as CSF normally drains along the olfactory axon bundles as they traverse the cribriform plate of the skull and approach the olfactory submucosa in the roof of the nasal cavity, where the CSF is then diverted into the nasal lymphatics. 34-36


Delivery of small molecules to the CNS

Many small molecules have been shown to be transported directly to the brain and/or CSF from the nasal cavity.This
has been reviewed by Illum 9 and Mathison et al.11 Anand kumar et al 78 and David et al 79 have demonstrated intranasal delivery of estrogen and progesterone respectively, to the CSF. Studies have also shown that drugs such as L-NAME 80 and cocaine (at the lower end of the lipophilicity scale) 81 have a higher CSF and olfactory bulb concentration after nasal administration than that obtained after parenteral administration. The properties of small molecules, including size and lipophilicity
http://intranasal.net/Peer%20Reviewed%20literature/Talegaonkar,%20Intranasal%20delivery%20-%20An%20approach%20to%20bypass%20the%20blood%20brain%20barrier,%20I%20J%20Pharm%202004.pdf


(The above is from Swimmingdancer's link)
 
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okay so that's a no, thank you.

EDIT: wait from that above quoted post, it says cocaine is an exception and that it goes into the cerebral spinal fluid which I'm assuming is a direct route to the brain? Or am I just not understanding that correctly, I'm tired.

For the most part this question is just regarding insufflated cocaine.
 
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Cane2theLeft said:
^^ If you are going to cite a paper, it'd be useful if you quote it as well so people don't have to go through it to find the part you are referring to.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I normally do, was just short on time when I made the post.

tricomb said:
From a non-advanced standpoint, do you really think your body would have a direct route to the brain for anything from the external environment?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what I think, to be honest. As I said, I am not an expert. I am not claiming it definitely works that way, I don't know enough to have that firm a standpoint on the issue, I was just explaining what I've been told.
 
pbuilder said:
okay so that's a no, thank you.

EDIT: wait from that above quoted post, it says cocaine is an exception and that it goes into the cerebral spinal fluid which I'm assuming is a direct route to the brain? Or am I just not understanding that correctly, I'm tired.

For the most part this question is just regarding insufflated cocaine.
Click to expand...

That is correct that it is saying that a drug can go into the CSF and directly to the brain, but it is not saying that cocaine is the only drug which does so.
 
Yeah as I said, I'm not a professional either but it's appears to be logical that there is not a direct path to the brain, at least to me.
 
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That due to the pharmacology of certain substances, some things can be insufflated and go directly into the CSF and to your brain, doesn't mean just anything can as your post implied, tri. I don't think that is as logical as you are saying and the referenced paper above seems to dispute it effectively.

Saying just because some drugs can that ANYTHING can is anything but logical.
 
tricomb said:
From a non-advanced standpoint, do you really think your body would have a direct route to the brain for anything from the external environment?

If things that go up your nose went straight to the brain, I'm pretty sure we'd have bigger problems than drug abuse.
Click to expand...


this just made me snigger maniacally. excellently put.
 
Cane2theLeft said:
That due to the pharmacology of certain substances, some things can be insufflated and go directly into the CSF and to your brain, doesn't mean just anything can as your post implied, tri. I don't think that is as logical as you are saying and the referenced paper above seems to dispute it effectively.

Saying just because some drugs can that ANYTHING can is anything but logical.
Click to expand...

You misunderstood me, or I failed to effectively convey myself, certainly the latter, yet certainly the former.
I meant to say that logic tells me that insufflated or inhaled compounds do not go directly to the brain, there's gotta be multiple self-defense mechanisms to prevent ingesting foreign matter, at least to some degree. A direct path to the brain, reminds me of how designers of programs usually leave a vulnerability in the system/program they create. If you believe in religion, did your deity leave one here? (Not like God would need to leave a vulnerability) If you believe in biology, did evolution leave us with an undesirable trait?
 
tricomb said:
I meant to say that logic tells me that insufflated or inhaled compounds do not go directly to the brain, there's gotta be multiple self-defense mechanisms to prevent ingesting foreign matter, at least to some degree. A direct path to the brain, reminds me of how designers of programs usually leave a vulnerability in the system/program they create. If you believe in religion, did your deity leave one here? (Not like God would need to leave a vulnerability) If you believe in biology, did evolution leave us with an undesirable trait?
Click to expand...

I don't believe in God, but is it impossible to believe that there could be a reason for a direct route from the nose to the brain? Perhaps it has something to do with requiring immediate information about things we smell? I don't know...

Here's an exerpt from an interesting article on the subject:
Although the way in which drugs pass from the nose to brain isn't yet entirely understood, given the beneficial medical possibilities, the potential routes have been subject to careful investigation. The most obvious possibility is that there is direct transport to the brain along the olfactory nerve. There are numerous other potential routes to the brain following intranasal drug administration. One such mechanism arises because the olfactory receptor neurons regenerate every 3-4 weeks (due to their regular contact with toxins in the environment), and as a result, nasal barriers to the central nervous system may be rather porous. The special cells that ensheath the olfactory receptor neurons don't decay but remain intact to guide the regrowth of the olfactory receptor neurons. Thus they could provide another direct route to the brain via fluid-filled extracellular channels--during neuron regeneration. In other words, these channels could allow for extracellular transport of drugs in addition to travelling along the axons of the neurons themselves.

Indeed, it appears likely, given the rapid onset of effects after intranasal drug administration that the extracellular channels allow drugs to be delivered to the brain faster than other pathways, such as the trigeminal nerve in the nasal passage or the various blood systems that supply the nose. It may well be that different drugs in different carriers travel from the nasal passage to the brain via a variety of routes.
Click to expand...
http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edit...se-to-brain-new-route-chemical-incapacitation
 
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tricomb said:
Yeah as I said, I'm not a professional either but it's appears to be logical that there is not a direct path to the brain, at least to me.
Click to expand...

I tend to hold this viewpoint as well. Just seems logical based upon Darwinism. We've evolved so many other incredible features that prevent far more complex things.

I always just tended to enjoy snorting my pills because, lets be real, it's fun (to some) to put a powder that fucks you up through your nasal passage. IMO, it's really no different than the love many have for the needle, at least fundamentally. I've had strong highs just crushing my pills up (operant conditioning at its finest).
 
i think my past days of EPH abuse have forever cured me of finding insufflating something 'pleasant'. things really are fucked when an IV shot produces significantly less discomfort than a line.
 
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