Toluene... an antidepressant, and what's more...

[Jamshyd]

This is NOT an april fool's joke! I stumbled by this at the university wile looking for Ketamine/Depression articles.

Toluene has antidepressant-like actions in two animal models used for the screening of antidepressant drugs
Psychopharmacology (June 2009), 204 (2), pg. 279-286
Silvia Cruz; Paulina Soberanes-Chávez; Nayeli Páez-Martinez; Carolina López-Rubalcava

Abstract
Rationale
Many abused solvents share a profile of effects with classical antidepressants. For example, toluene, which is a representative and widely abused solvent, has been reported to increase both serotonin and noradrenaline levels in several brain areas after an acute exposure and to act as a noncompetitive antagonist of the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor subtype. Therefore, it is possible that toluene could possess antidepressant-like actions.

Objective
To provide an initial screening of toluene’s antidepressant-like actions in the forced swimming test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST) in mice and to analyze its possible mechanism of action.

Materials and methods
Two series of experiments were performed. In the first one, male animals were exposed to toluene (0, 500, 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 ppm) in a static exposure chamber for 30 min, and immediately after, evaluated for antidepressant-like effects. The results were compared with those obtained from mice treated with the serotonergic antidepressant clomipramine (CMI), the noradrenergic antidepressant desipramine (DMI), and the glutamatergic antidepressants, ketamine and MK-801. In the second part, we analyzed the effect of a combined administration of a subeffective concentration of toluene with a suboptimal dose of the various antidepressants acting at different neurotransmitter systems.

Results
Toluene produced a concentration-dependent antidepressant-like action in the FST and TST and facilitated both MK-801 and ketamine antidepressant-like effects, but not those of DMI or CMI.

Conclusions
Toluene has antidepressant-like effects that are synergized with NMDA receptor antagonists.


doi: 10.1007/s00213-009-1462-2

 

[ebola?]

happy huffers! :D

 

[seep]

epoxide metabolites. nolo tangere!

the methyl aryls are more reactive than aryls because the methyl is electron-donating. the aromatic portion is therefore more susceptible to electrophilic attack.

I wonder if trifluorotoluene is active

 

[tryp2fun]

epoxide metabolites. nolo tangere!

the methyl aryls are more reactive than aryls because the methyl is electron-donating. the aromatic portion is therefore more susceptible to electrophilic attack.

I wonder if trifluorotoluene is active

The methyl also would make the arene oxide of toluene (if formed) more reactive (ring opening forms a more stable carbocation), so it would rearrange before it gets to DNA. The most dangerous arene oxides are the ones that are relatively stable. Furthermore, toluene is mostly metabolized by oxidation of the methyl to benzoic acid. Toluene is much less carcinogenic than benzene, so it has mostly replaced benzene as a laboratory solvent. None of this is a good reason to huff it.

 

[Gormur]

Very interesting. I've been huffing toluene off and on for a couple years. Not proud of it but i don't crave it and actually do a session only like once every 2-3 months

As for effects, i find that it calms me down..like a tranquilizer. It also reduces my appetite and craving (for other substances)

 

[fryingsquirrel]

Glad I'm not depressed, because there is no fucking way I'm huffing toluene.

 

[Limpet_Chicken]

Ick! no. Toluene does have a nice smell though.

 

[polymath]

Years ago I used to huff toluene sometimes to get fucked up...

Gormur, do you get any interesting hallucinations when you huff? I had really crazy ones and I also always got a strange feeling of "deja vu" on toluene.

 

[Gormur]

Gormur, do you get any interesting hallucinations when you huff? I had really crazy ones and I also always got a strange feeling of "deja vu" on toluene.

Sometimes i see dark blue spots but it's really mild

and i don't huff much.. it's anywhere from 1-5 puffs in a session.. get sick of it very fast etc

it reminds me of DXM a little but way milder. i could never stand DXM

 

[stirfry]

Years ago I used to huff toluene sometimes to get fucked up...

Gormur, do you get any interesting hallucinations when you huff? I had really crazy ones and I also always got a strange feeling of "deja vu" on toluene.

I find it interesting that you get a strong sense of déjà vu after huffing toluene. While I have never huffed toluene, I have had the bizarre déjà vu effect on nitrous oxide. Below (nested in the NSFW tag) is a post I made in another thread on this subject:

NSFW:

This actually sounds very similar to some of my more intense nitrous oxide experiences. It truly is one of the most bizarre feelings I have ever experienced. It doesn't happen every time I do nitrous, but when it does, it's indescribable.

When I enter the déjà vu, it's like being hit with this sudden realization (epiphany like even) that I have been in this very moment before, and in fact, this eternal moment is my true reality. It seems as if my whole life leading up to this moment is just an illusion that I've tricked myself into believing, and I can see that I am in an endless cycle of living this illusory life all the way up to inhaling the nitrous and finally coming to the great realization while knowing I will soon forget this truth, and I will soon start the cycle all over again by returning to that false life (sobriety).

When I come down, I realize this is an insane thought pattern, and can only grasp the feelings I just had in the most fleeting manner. I find this experience more intense than even my 5-MeO-DMT or Salvia trips. The realism of these non nonsensical thoughts is astounding.

be safe and have fun.

Seeing as nitrous oxide and toluene both act as NMDA antagonists, perhaps this is a common effect to inhaled NMDA antagonists?

 

[Gormur]

I don't really get déjà vu. Just a feeling like i'm in a dream (derealization)

 

[ebola?]

Prefunctory harm-reductive message: huffing toluene is extremely dangerous, even in moderation. One would be vastly better off ingesting nearly any other general anaesthetic (similar to halo-ethane or what have you) or dissociative.

ebola

 

[pofacedhoe]

Years ago I used to huff toluene sometimes to get fucked up...

Gormur, do you get any interesting hallucinations when you huff? I had really crazy ones and I also always got a strange feeling of "deja vu" on toluene.

butane causes some pretty extreme deja vu

 

[paranoid android]

Prefunctory harm-reductive message: huffing toluene is extremely dangerous, even in moderation. One would be vastly better off ingesting nearly any other general anaesthetic (similar to halo-ethane or what have you) or dissociative.

ebola

I second this motion. Christ even using scopolamine as a anti-depressant would be a better option as long as you didnt go delerious.

 

[polymath]

When I enter the déjà vu, it's like being hit with this sudden realization (epiphany like even) that I have been in this very moment before, and in fact, this eternal moment is my true reality. It seems as if my whole life leading up to this moment is just an illusion that I've tricked myself into believing, and I can see that I am in an endless cycle of living this illusory life all the way up to inhaling the nitrous and finally coming to the great realization while knowing I will soon forget this truth, and I will soon start the cycle all over again by returning to that false life (sobriety).

This is so good description of the experience, that I'm getting mild flashbacks of the inhalant trips just by reading this(it's been five year since I huffed last time).

I agree with what ebola and p.a. said, toluene is too dangerous to be used recreationally, as it destroys brain cells and can cause sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias. I might want to try nitrous, though...

 

[paranoid android]

^ Nitrous is virtually harmless as long as your sitting down, don't inhale it from a tank with a mask unless you have the oxygen/nitrous ratio right, don't do anything else stupid of that nature and take b-12.

 

[atara]

Why didn't they test this with something less toxic like diethyl ether?

epoxide metabolites. nolo tangere!

the methyl aryls are more reactive than aryls because the methyl is electron-donating. the aromatic portion is therefore more susceptible to electrophilic attack.

I wonder if trifluorotoluene is active

Toluene is far less carcinogenic than benzene, however, since the metabolic conversion toluene -> benzyl alcohol occurs far more readily than the conversion toluene -> toluene-3,4-oxide.

 

[Gormur]

Well i'm not dead but i guess i should be concerned about brain lesions at this point. I've had olfactory hallucinations for a few years and never got it checked out by a neurologist as my specialist suggested

 

[fencamfamine]

MK-801 (dizocilpine) has anti-depressant activity? Wow, that stuff sounds like the stuff of nightmares from the few reports I've read. Anything that can be used to model both the positive & negative symptoms of schizoform disorders doesn't sound like a drug for depression.

Are they sure that just being totally out of your mind means you forget your woes? Alcohol can do that, but it's not a widely prescribed medication (not from doctors in any case).

Truly frightening...

 

[polymath]

I've taken DXM in 300-600mg doses, but the high wasn't very similar to toluene...

Unfortunately DXM doesn't seem to work for me at all anymore when I'm on risperidone medication. I wonder what's the mechanism behind that.