Author Topic: PCP (Read 1854 times)

Daemon18553 · December 10, 2011, 09:18:03 PM

Quote from: Wikiresearchia

Phencyclidine (a complex clip of the chemical name 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine), commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug. Formerly used as an anesthetic agent, PCP exhibits both hallucinogenic and neurotoxic effects.[1]
First synthesized in 1926,[2] it was eventually patented in 1952 by the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company and marketed under the brand name Sernyl. In chemical structure, PCP is an arylcyclohexylamine derivative, and, in pharmacology, it is a member of the family of dissociative anesthetics. PCP works primarily as an NMDA receptor antagonist, which blocks the activity of the NMDA receptor and, like most antiglutamatergic hallucinogens, is significantly more dangerous than other categories of hallucinogens.[3][4] Other NMDA receptor antagonists include ketamine, tiletamine, dextromethorphan and nitrous oxide. Although the primary psychoactive effects of PCP last for a few hours, its total elimination rate from the body typically extends eight days or longer.
As a recreational drug, PCP may be ingested, smoked, or snorted.[5]
PCP is well known for its primary action on ionotropic glutamate receptors, such as the NMDA receptor in rats and in rat brain homogenate.[6][7] As such, PCP is an NMDA receptor antagonist. NMDA receptors mediate excitation,[8] however, studies have shown that PCP unexpectedly produces substantial cortical activation in humans[9] and rodents.[10]
Research also indicates that PCP inhibits nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh) receptors. brown townogues of PCP exhibit varying potency at nACh receptors[citation needed] and NMDA receptors.[11] In some brain regions, these effects are believed to act synergistically by inhibiting excitatory activity.[citation needed]
PCP, like ketamine, also acts as a D2 receptor partial agonist in rat brain homogenate.[7] This activity may be associated with some of the more psychotic features of PCP intoxication, which is evidenced by the successful use of D2 receptor antagonists (such as haloperidol) in the treatment of PCP psychosis.[12]
The relative immunity to pain is likely produced by indirect interaction with the endogenous endorphin and enkephalin system, as has been suggested by studies involving rats.[13][clarification needed]
PCP may also work as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
[14]Behavioral effects can vary by dosage. Low doses produce a numbness in the extremities and intoxication, characterized by staggering, unsteady gait, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and loss of balance. Moderate doses (5–10 mg intranasal, or 0.01–0.02 mg/kg intramuscular or intravenous) will produce brown towngesia and anesthesia. High doses may lead to convulsions.[29] Users frequently do not know how much of the drug they are taking due to the tendency of the drug to be made illegally in uncontrolled conditions.[30]
Psychological effects include severe changes in body image, loss of ego boundaries, paranoia and depersonalization. Hallucinations, euphoria, suicidal impulses and aggressive behavior are reported.[29][31] The drug has been known to alter mood states in an unpredictable fashion, causing some individuals to become detached, and others to become animated. Intoxicated individuals may act in an unpredictable fashion, possibly driven by their delusions and hallucinations. PCP may induce feelings of strength, power, and invulnerability as well as a numbing effect on the mind.[5] Occasionally, this leads to bizarre acts of violence.[32] However, studies by the Drug Abuse Warning Network in the 1970s show that media reports of PCP-induced violence are greatly exaggerated and that incidents of violence were unusual and often (but not always) limited to individuals with reputations for aggression regardless of drug use.[33] The reports in question often dealt with a supposed increase in strength imparted by the drug; this could partially be explained by the anaesthetic effects of the drug. The most commonly-cited types of incidents included self-mutilation of various types, breaking handcuffs (a feat reportedly requiring about 550 lbf (2.4 kN) of force), inflicting remarkable property damage, and pulling one's own teeth.[33][34][35]
Included in the portfolio of behavioral disturbances are acts of self-injury including Self Delete, and attacks on others or destruction of property. The brown towngesic properties of the drug can cause users to feel less pain, and persist in violent or injurious acts as a result. Recreational doses of the drug can also induce a psychotic state that resembles schizophrenic episodes which can last for months at a time with toxic doses.[36] Users generally report they feel detached from reality, or that one's consciousness seems somewhat disconnected from reality.[37]
Symptoms are summarized by the mnemonic device RED DANES: rage, erythema (redness of skin), dilated pupils, delusions, amnesia, nystagmus (oscillation of the eyeball when moving laterally), excitation, and skin dryness.[38]