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PsychedeliaDokholyan Laboratory
Plate 406 of 545Verified

Mescaline

Also known asMescalin · 3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenethylamine · Mezcaline · 3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzeneethanamine · 3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenylethylamine · Trimethoxyphenethylamine · Tmpea · Mezcalin

2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)ethanamine

PubChem CID
4076
Measurements
15
InChIKey
RHCSKNNOAZULRK-UHFFFAOYSA-N

I · Summary

What is known

Published passages, each quoted whole and attributed to the database that published it. Two blocks are written here rather than quoted, and both say so where they stand: the synthesized summary at the top, which may draw only on the passages beneath it, and the history note, which cites the works it came from. Every claim in either carries a marker to its source.

Synthesized summary

written by this site — every other word below is quoted

Mescaline is a phenethylamine carrying methoxy groups at the 3, 4 and 5 positions, filed as a hallucinogen and a plant metabolite 1 and reported from cacti and other plants 2. Its legal position in the United States is unusual and narrow: against a Schedule I listing 8, lawful use of peyote and mescaline is limited to Indian tribes of the Native American Church, as part of religious ceremony 3. By the standards of this archive it is slow and long — onset between thirty minutes and two hours, peak blood levels at two hours, and a duration usually of six to twelve hours that may reach fourteen 4. It is rapidly and widely distributed into peripheral tissue and binds liver protein rather than plasma protein 7. Most of it is never metabolized at all: about sixty percent leaves unchanged in twenty-four-hour urine, and only the remainder is oxidized in the liver to a list of inactive metabolites 5,6. One passage sits oddly against the others and is repeated here rather than quietly dropped: it records mescaline as under investigation in a registered clinical trial in adult lupus nephritis 9. Nothing else in this record connects mescaline to that indication.

Drawn only from the passages printed below, so every claim above can be checked against material on this page. The numbers are those passages. Synthesized by Claude Opus 5 (claude-opus-5), via Claude Code on 2026-08-27.

What it is

  • 1cited by the summary above

    Mescaline is a phenethylamine alkaloid that is phenethylamine substituted at positions 3, 4 and 5 by methoxy groups. It has a role as a hallucinogen and a plant metabolite. It is a phenethylamine alkaloid, a primary amino compound and a member of methoxybenzenes. It is a conjugate base of a mescalinium.

    ChEBI

  • 8cited by the summary above

    Mescaline is a DEA Schedule I controlled substance. Substances in the DEA Schedule I have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse. It is a Hallucinogenic substances substance.

    Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

  • 9cited by the summary above

    Mescaline is under investigation in clinical trial NCT05933213 (Comparing Mescaline Sodium Enteric-coated Tablets vs Morte-mescaline in the Treatment of Adult Lupus Nephritis).

    DrugBank

  • 2cited by the summary above

    mescaline has been reported in Senegalia berlandieri, Gymnocalycium chubutense, and other organisms with data available.

    LOTUS - the natural products occurrence database

Recognized use

  • 3cited by the summary above

    The legal use of peyote and mescaline in the United States today is limited to Indian tribes in the Native American Church who use the peyote as part of their religious ceremony.

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Haddad, L.M. (Ed). Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose 3rd Edition. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA. 1998., p. 1188

How it acts

  • Hallucinogens, including mescaline, psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), profoundly affect perception, cognition, and mood. All known drugs of this class are 5-HT(2A) receptor (2AR) agonists, yet closely related 2AR agonists such as lisuride lack comparable psychoactive properties. Why only certain 2AR agonists are hallucinogens and which neural circuits mediate their effects are poorly understood. By genetically expressing 2AR only in cortex, we show that 2AR-regulated pathways on cortical neurons are sufficient to mediate the signaling pattern and behavioral response to hallucinogens. Hallucinogenic and nonhallucinogenic 2AR agonists both regulate signaling in the same 2AR-exp…

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 17270739Gonzalez-Maeso J et al; Neuron 53 (3): 439-52 (2007)

  • The mechanism of action of mescaline is unknown. Hallucinogenic effects are believed to be due to stimulation of serotonin and dopamine receptors in the CNS.

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

Behavior carries the pharmacological classes and the acute-effect durations, with plasma half-life kept separate from duration of effect.

In the body

  • 7cited by the summary above

    Mescaline binds to liver proteins but not to plasma proteins. It is rapidly and widely distributed into the peripheral tissues. The volume of distribution is not specifically known but is believed to be on the order of several L/kg.

    Absorption, Distribution and Excretion

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

  • 5cited by the summary above

    Sixty percent of mescaline is excreted unchanged in a 24 hour urine, and the rest is excreted as metabolites.

    Absorption, Distribution and Excretion

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

  • 4cited by the summary above

    Peyote is rapidly absorbed after ingestion. The onset of action is between 30 minutes and 2 hours, and peak blood levels occur 2 hours after ingestion. The duration of the effect usually ranges from 6 to 12 hours but may last up to 14 hours. /Peyote/

    Absorption, Distribution and Excretion

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

  • Rats of 1, 4, 8, 12, 20, and 60 days postnatal age were injected ip with (14)C-mescaline (50 nCi/g). The levels of mescaline and its deaminated metabolite, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid, were examined in the brain, liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidney at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. Mescaline was rapidly taken up by all the organs examined. In general, the organs of younger rats accumulated much larger amounts than those of adult animals. Brain concentrated the lowest amounts in comparison with other tissues. In the brain, the uptake was the highest in 1-day-old rats and decreased with age. The disappearance of mescaline in various organs was comparatively slower in younger animals than in…

    Absorption, Distribution and Excretion

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 236161Shah NS et al; Drug Metab Dispos 3 (2): 74-9 (1975)

  • 6cited by the summary above

    It is metabolized in the liver by mescaline oxidase into numerous inactive metabolites. These include 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid; 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid; 3,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-phenyl-lacetyl glutamine; 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethoxyphenylethylamine; N-acetylmescaline; and N-acetyl-3,4-dimethoxy-5-hydroxyphenylethylamine.

    Metabolism/Metabolites

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

  • Metabolism of mescaline by several rabbit tissues was examined in vitro. Mescaline-oxidizing activity (micromoles/ per milligram of protein/15 min) of lung homogenates was 4 times greater than that of either liver or kidney. Brain and plasma each had comparatively little capacity to metabolize mescaline. Mescaline metabolism in vitro was sensitive to inhibition by semicarbazide. Removal of mescaline from the medium perfusing the isolated rabbit lung was explained by intrapulmonary metabolism. Semicarbazide (10(-3) M pargyline. Semicarbazide-treated lungs accumulated more mescaline than did untreated lungs. Mescaline efflux from lung was slower than that of its metabolite. These results indic…

    Metabolism/Metabolites

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 839444Roth RA Jr et al; J Pharmacol Exp Ther 200 (2): 394-401(1977)

History, discovery and cultural use

Written by this site · every claim referenced

Peyote has been used in religious ritual for millennia, and North American medicinal use has been dated to roughly 5,700 years ago 1. The alkaloid responsible was isolated in 1896 by the German chemist Arthur Heffter, and first synthesized in 1919 by Ernst Späth, who prepared it from 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid 1. Mike Jay's global history follows the same arc in full, from pre-Columbian ritual through nineteenth-century chemistry to twentieth-century psychiatry 2.

  1. 1Dinis-Oliveira RJ, Pereira CL, da Silva DD. Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Aspects of Peyote and Mescaline: Clinical and Forensic Repercussions. Current Molecular Pharmacology 12(3):184–194; 2019. doi:10.2174/1874467211666181010154139.
  2. 2Jay M. Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic. Yale University Press, New Haven and London; 2019. ISBN 9780300231076.

Every date and name is taken from ref 1, read directly. Ref 2 is cited for the scope of the arc, which is the publisher's own description of the book, not for any particular date. Nothing above is quoted from Mescaline’s own database records; those appear as quotations elsewhere on this plate.

On this compound

Listed here because the work’s own title names Mescaline. No book is assigned to a compound on any looser basis.

  • Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic

    Traces mescaline and the peyote and San Pedro cacti from pre-Columbian ritual use through nineteenth-century chemistry to twentieth-century psychiatry and the counterculture.

    Jay M. Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic. Yale University Press, New Haven and London; 2019. ISBN 9780300231076.

  • Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Aspects of Peyote and Mescaline: Clinical and Forensic Repercussions

    Peer-reviewed review covering the isolation, synthesis, pharmacology and ritual use of peyote and mescaline.

    Dinis-Oliveira RJ, Pereira CL, da Silva DD. Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Aspects of Peyote and Mescaline: Clinical and Forensic Repercussions. Current Molecular Pharmacology 12(3):184–194; 2019. doi:10.2174/1874467211666181010154139.

Histories of this field

Scholarship on psychedelics generally, not on Mescaline specifically. Whether any of these treats this compound is a question for the book, not for this page.

  • Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelicsopen access

    Essays on the international and cross-cultural history of psychedelic science, deliberately decentring the standard North American and European account.

    Dyck E, Elcock C, editors. Expanding Mindscapes: A Global History of Psychedelics. The MIT Press, Cambridge MA; 2023. ISBN 9780262546935 (paper), 9780262376891 (open access). doi:10.7551/mitpress/14417.001.0001.

  • Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers

    Botany, ethnography and chemistry of the principal hallucinogenic plants, by the founder of modern ethnobotany and the chemist who first synthesized LSD.

    Schultes RE, Hofmann A, Rätsch C. Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers. 2nd ed. Healing Arts Press, Rochester VT; 2001. ISBN 9780892819799.

  • Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind

    The tradition of scientific self-experimentation with psychoactive drugs, and its part in the emergence of psychology and of modernism.

    Jay M. Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind. Yale University Press, New Haven; 2023. ISBN 9780300257946.

  • Ancient Psychoactive Substances

    Archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence for psychoactive plant use across the ancient world.

    Fitzpatrick SM, editor. Ancient Psychoactive Substances. University Press of Florida, Gainesville; 2018. ISBN 9780813056708.

  • History and Current Status of Psychedelics and Entactogens for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

    A chapter tracing psychedelic and entactogen research from earlier ritual use through the mid-century research period to current clinical trials.

    Stroud C, Posey Norris SM, Matney C, editors. History and Current Status of Psychedelics and Entactogens for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders. In: Exploring Psychedelics and Entactogens as Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders: Proceedings of a Workshop. National Academies Press, Washington DC; 2022. NBK587225.

    Workshop proceedings record what participants said; they are not a consensus statement of the National Academies.

Institutional archives

  • Heffter Research Institute Funds and coordinates clinical research on psilocybin, and keeps records of the studies it has supported since 1993. Sponsors the research it archives.
  • Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Sponsors clinical research, chiefly on MDMA-assisted therapy, and publishes an archive of historical and contemporary documents. A sponsor and an advocacy organization, not a disinterested archive; its clinical programme has a commercial arm.

The rest of this dossier

  • Affinity — 15 measurements in this archive, equilibrium constants kept apart from functional readouts.
  • Toxicology — 5 published passages, plus any assay in this archive bearing on toxicity.
  • Legal — DEA Schedule I, with the passage it was read from.
  • Systems — where this compound’s targets are transcribed, by brain region and tissue.

Passages via PubChem descriptive sections, aggregating DrugBank, LiverTox, FDA, DEA, HSDB, EPA. Each is quoted whole and attributed to the database that published it. The only prose written here about Mescaline is the history note, which says so on its face and carries a reference for every claim in it.

II · Identity

Structure and descriptors

Descriptors are computed here with RDKit from the structure PubChem returns — not from the archive's stored copy, so an edited local structure cannot reach this table.

2D structural depiction of Mescaline
Depiction served by PubChem for CID 4076. Not redrawn here, so the picture and the identity come from the same record.
Formula
C11H17NO3R
Molecular weight
211.26g/molR
Exact mass
211.1208DaR
cLogP
1.21R
TPSA
53.7ŲR
H-bond donors
1R
H-bond acceptors
4R
Rotatable bonds
5R
Aromatic rings
1R
Heavy atoms
15R
Fraction sp³
0.455R
Formal charge
0R

Computed with RDKit 2025.09.2 from the SMILES returned by PubChem. Audit run 26/09/2026.

Bemis–Murcko scaffold

c1ccccc1

Shared with 2-Bromomescaline, 2-TOET, 2-TOM, 2,3,4,5-Tetramethoxyamphetamine, 2,4-dimethoxyamphetamine, 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-(2-fluoroethyl)amphetamine and 129 more. All families

III · Behavior

Behavioral summary

Class, mechanism, and the duration of acute effects — each quoted from the record or trial that publishes it. Duration of effects and plasma half-life are shown separately, because they are different quantities and diverge by a factor of three or four.

Classification

Duration of acute subjective effects

11.1 h (mean)

300 and 500 mg, oral

“Mescaline had the longest effect duration (mean: 11.1 h), followed by LSD (mean: 8.2 h), and psilocybin (mean: 4.9 h)”
Ley L et al., Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2023. PMID 37231080

Plasma elimination half-life

How fast the body clears the drug — not how long the effects last. The two diverge sharply: LSD is cleared with a half-life of about 2.6 h while its subjective effects run 8–12 h.

No half-life is published for this compound in the sources this site reads.

Primary pharmacological drivers

ChEMBL holds no curated mechanism-of-action record for this compound. The measured affinities below are the evidence this archive has for what it binds.

Mechanism, as published

Quoted verbatim from the database named after each passage, never summarized.

  • Hallucinogens, including mescaline, psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), profoundly affect perception, cognition, and mood. All known drugs of this class are 5-HT(2A) receptor (2AR) agonists, yet closely related 2AR agonists such as lisuride lack comparable psychoactive properties. Why only certain 2AR agonists are hallucinog…
    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 17270739Gonzalez-Maeso J et al; Neuron 53 (3): 439-52 (2007)
  • Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylethylamine; MES) and its analogs, anhalinine (ANH) and methylenemescaline trimer (MMT) were investigated, using sciatic-sartorius preparations of the frog and cortical tissue from the rat. The effects of MES and its analogs were examined with respect to muscle twitch, resting membrane potential and nicotin…
    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 8383816Ghansah E et al; Neuropharmacology 32 (2): 169-74 (1993)
  • The mechanism of action of mescaline is unknown. Hallucinogenic effects are believed to be due to stimulation of serotonin and dopamine receptors in the CNS.
    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

IV · Clinical

Clinical description

Where this compound's substance class sits in ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR, and how much of the recorded literature speaks to each domain of a mental status examination.

Filed under Hallucinogens

  • 6C49Disorders due to use of hallucinogens

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR): Hallucinogen-Related Disorders. Category names only — the manual is in copyright and no diagnostic criterion is reproduced here.

How much has been written about each domain

The clinical domains, and how many of the records this archive holds for this compound say something under each. What the terms mean, and the word list behind every spoke, are set out in the method.

Affect0Mood3Perception4Cognition1Thought process0Thought content2Psychomotor activity0Insight and judgment0
This measures the literature, not the compound. Each spoke counts how many of the 9 records this archive holds for this compound say something under that domain — 4 at the widest ring. A long spoke means the subject has been written about, not that the effect is strong, and a spoke at the center means nothing here discusses it rather than that nothing happens. The terms behind each domain are listed in the method.
Mood 3
matched on “anxiety”, “depression”, “mood” · in PMID 17270739; PMID 1467389; Toxicology: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Perception 4
matched on “altered perception”, “hallucinat”, “hallucinogen” · in PMID 17270739; Pharmacology: Mechanism of Action; PMID 1467389; Toxicology: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
Cognition 1
matched on “concentrat” · in PMID 4033076
Thought content 2
matched on “paranoi” · in PMID 1467389; Toxicology: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)

V · Systems

Systems physiology

Where the targets this compound binds are transcribed — brain regions on the left, peripheral and autonomic tissues on the right. A join of two measurements, not a claim about what the compound does to either.

Brain

cerebral cortex — 18.2 nTPM, from HTR2A, ADRA2C, HTR1Acerebellum — 5.8 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR1Ehippocampal formation — 6.1 nTPM, from HTR1A, ADRA2C, HTR2Aamygdala — 6.4 nTPM, from ADRA2C, HTR2A, HTR2Chypothalamus — 12.6 nTPM, from HTR2C, ADRA2A, ADRA2Cthalamus — no resolved target expressed herebasal ganglia — 28.2 nTPM, from HTR2C, ADRA2C, HTR2Amedulla oblongata — no resolved target expressed here

basal ganglia: drawn as the caudate nucleus, putamen and globus pallidus.

Measured but not drawn — this anatomogram has no outline for them: pituitary gland 4.7, midbrain 2.5, spinal cord 1.4, retina 0.7.

Body

heart — 7.4 nTPM, from ADRA2C, ADRA2A, HTR2Asmooth muscle — 2.6 nTPM, from ADRA2A, HTR2A, ADRA2Clung — 4.3 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2Aliver — 1.1 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2Akidney — 33.4 nTPM, from ADRA2C, ADRA2A, HTR2Astomach — 3.5 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR1Eduodenum — 9.4 nTPM, from ADRA2A, HTR2A, ADRA2Csmall intestine — 4.5 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2Acolon — 6.9 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2Aadrenal gland — 3.5 nTPM, from ADRA2C, ADRA2A, HTR2Athyroid gland — 8.7 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR1Epancreas — 28.8 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR1Eurinary bladder — 14.8 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2Askeletal muscle — 3.3 nTPM, from ADRA2C, ADRA2A, HTR2Aspleen — 20.8 nTPM, from ADRA2C, ADRA2Asalivary gland — 6.5 nTPM, from ADRA2A, ADRA2C, HTR2A
033 nTPM

Square-root ramp · shared scale across both plates

Shading is transcript level — not affinity, and not affinity combined with expression. Outlined but unshaded organs hold none of this compound’s resolved targets above the atlas’s detection threshold. Anatomy from EMBL-EBI Anatomogram (Apache License 2.0); regions identified by Uberon (uberon.org), CC BY 3.0.

Brain regions

Regions where this compound's measured targets are transcribed. Linked from the plate above.

  1. basal ganglia

    28.2 nTPM

  2. cerebral cortex

    18.2 nTPM

  3. hypothalamus

    12.6 nTPM

  4. amygdala

    6.4 nTPM

  5. hippocampal formation

    6.1 nTPM

  6. cerebellum

    5.8 nTPM

  7. pituitary gland

    4.7 nTPM

  8. midbrain

    2.5 nTPM

  9. spinal cord

    1.4 nTPM

  10. retina

    0.7 nTPM

Peripheral & autonomic

Tissues outside the CNS expressing the same targets — where a compound's bodily effects become possible.

  1. kidney

    33.4 nTPM

  2. pancreas

    28.8 nTPM

  3. spleen

    20.8 nTPM

  4. urinary bladder

    14.8 nTPM

  5. duodenum

    9.4 nTPM

  6. thyroid gland

    8.7 nTPM

  7. heart muscle

    7.4 nTPM

  8. colon

    6.9 nTPM

  9. salivary gland

    6.5 nTPM

  10. small intestine

    4.5 nTPM

  11. lung

    4.3 nTPM

  12. stomach 1

    3.5 nTPM

  13. adrenal gland

    3.5 nTPM

  14. skeletal muscle

    3.3 nTPM

  15. smooth muscle

    2.6 nTPM

  16. liver

    1.1 nTPM

Each row joins two published measurements and nothing else: the affinity this archive holds for the compound at that target, and the transcript level the Human Protein Atlas reports for that target’s gene in that region. Bars scale with expression only. Expression is not activation — a receptor transcribed in a region is a receptor available to be bound there, which is a weaker and more defensible claim than saying the region is affected.

1 of this compound’s targets could not be resolved to a gene and are absent from both columns: Serotonin (5-HT) receptor.

Expression data from Human Protein Atlas (CC BY-SA 3.0), RNA expression, nTPM (normalized transcripts per million), consensus tissue dataset. Uhlén M, et al. Tissue-based map of the human proteome. Science. 2015;347(6220):1260419.

VI · Profile

Affinity rosette

The strongest measurement at each of 7 molecular targets. Cell-line and whole-organism screens are excluded here — they carry no affinity — and appear in the table below.

5-HT2A — Ki 6.82 pX5-HT2C — Ki 6.42 pX5-HT1A — Ki 5.73 pXSerotonin (5-HT) receptor — Kd 5.65 pX5-HT1E — Ki 5.28 pXAlpha2C — Ki 6.13 pXAlpha2A — Ki 5.85 pX5-HT2A5-HT2C5-HT1ASerotonin (5-HT)…5-HT1EAlpha2CAlpha2A579
Fig. Radius is pX = −log₁₀(value in M), that is 9 − log₁₀(value in nM), computed from the normalized measurement. Hatched wedges are equilibrium binding constants (Ki, Kd); dashed outlines are functional readouts (IC₅₀, EC₅₀, AC₅₀, potency), which answer a different question and are not pooled with them. Rings mark whole pX units from 5 to 10, labeled every second ring in the gutter at the top. Where a target carries several measurements, the strongest is drawn.

VII · Toxicology

Toxicological profile

What has been measured, and what has been published — kept apart, and neither scored. There is no risk rating on this page; the archive once carried one, identical for every compound, produced by a stub.

Measured in this archive

Assays that bear on toxicity, drawn from the same ChEMBL records as everything else on this page. They are measurements of what a compound binds or does to cells — not verdicts about what it does to a person.

No hERG, cytochrome, cytotoxicity or transport measurement exists for Mescaline in this archive.

As published

Quoted verbatim from the database named after each passage, never summarized — a summary of a toxicology statement is a new claim.

Human Toxicity Excerpts

  • /HUMAN EXPOSURE STUDIES/ The psychological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects of the hallucinogenic agent mescaline were investigated in 12 normal men who were volunteers. Mescaline produced an acute psychotic state 3 1/2-4 hr after drug intake, as measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Paranoid Depression Scale (PDS). The Assessment of Altered States of Consciousness (APZ) questionna…

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 1467389Hermle L et al; Biol Psychiatry 32 (11): 976-91 (1992)

  • /SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ Mescaline produces hallucinations and symptoms of CNS and sympathetic stimulation. Mild elevations in pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and temperature may be noted. Nausea and vomiting commonly precede the hallucinogenic effects. The clinical presentation may mimic an anticholinergic syndrome. Mydriasis, salivation, and blurred vision are common. Palpitations may occur. Nausea and vomiti…

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Dart, R.C. (ed). Medical Toxicology. Third Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA. 2004., p. 1706

  • /SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ The clinical effects usually occur approximately one hour following ingestions, and begin with a gastrointestinal phase, predominantly nausea and vomiting, and may be accompanied by diaphoresis, hypertension, mydriasis, and ataxia. This is followed by the psychoactive phase, which generally peaks at 4 to 6 hours and resembles LSD intoxication. This temporal pattern of transition from the gastroin…

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)Haddad, L.M. (Ed). Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose 3rd Edition. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA. 1998., p. 1188

  • /CASE REPORTS/ The death of an individual under the influence of mescaline is presented. Concentrations of the drug were 9.7, 70.8, and 1163 micrograms/mL or micrograms/g in blood, liver, and urine respectively.

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)PMID 4033076Reynolds PC, Jindrich EJ; J Anal Toxicol 9 (4): 183-4 (1985)

  • For more Human Toxicity Excerpts (Complete) data for 3,4,5-TRIMETHOXYPHENETHYLAMINE (7 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

    Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)

Published passages via PubChem toxicology sections, aggregating Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), RTECS, LiverTox. No figure on this page is scored, ranked or combined into a risk level.

VIII · Evidence

Every measurement

One row per published value. The identifier in the last column resolves to the ChEMBL assay record it was read from.

Equilibrium binding constants 14

Ki and Kd — a concentration at equilibrium. Directly comparable across rows at the same target.

TargetClassTypeValue (nM)pXOrganismAssay
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsKi1506.82RATPMID 2795135
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsKi3606.44Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL871423
5-HT2CSerotonin receptorsKi3806.42Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL871424
Alpha2CAdrenergic receptorsKi7456.13HUMANPMID 20126400
Alpha2AAdrenergic receptorsKi1,4005.85HUMANPMID 26318099
5-HT1ASerotonin receptorsKi1,8415.73HUMANPMID 20126400
Serotonin (5-HT) receptorSerotonin receptorsKd2,2395.65Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL619177
Serotonin (5-HT) receptorSerotonin receptorsKd2,2395.65Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL3279114
5-HT1ASerotonin receptorsKi4,6005.34HUMANPMID 26318099
5-HT1ESerotonin receptorsKi5,2055.28HUMANPMID 20126400
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsKi5,5005.26Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL617470
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsKi5,5005.26Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL980602
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsKi6,3005.20HUMANPMID 26318099
Alpha2AAdrenergic receptorsKi8,9305.05HUMANPMID 20126400

Functional readouts 1

IC₅₀, EC₅₀, AC₅₀ and potency. Assay-dependent, and not interchangeable with a binding constant.

TargetClassTypeValue (nM)pXOrganismAssay
5-HT2ASerotonin receptorsEC502,6005.59Rattus norvegicusCHEMBL617115
P
PubChem
C
ChEMBL
R
Computed here with RDKit
D
Derived here from the stored measurement

IX · Trials

Registered clinical trials

Studies filed with ClinicalTrials.gov that name this compound as an intervention. A registered trial is a protocol, not a result — status and enrollment are printed beside every row, and withdrawn studies are counted rather than hidden.

3T

Registered studies

0T

Open or ongoing

3T

With a phase recorded

By phase

A study may carry two phase codes at once, so these count studies bearing each phase and do not sum to the total.

  • Phase 12
  • Phase 41

By status

The registry’s own status for each record. Withdrawn and terminated studies are counted here rather than hidden — a stopped trial is part of what is known.

  • Completed2
  • Unknown status1

Every matched study

Newest first by start date. Each identifier opens the registry record it came from; the title is the sponsor’s own, quoted.

  • NCT05933213Unknown status · Phase 4

    Comparing Mescaline Sodium Enteric-coated Tablets vs Morte-mescaline in the Treatment of Adult Lupus Nephritis

    Enrollment
    205Testimated
    Started
    2023-07-06
    Sponsor
    Xiangya Hospital of Central South University

    Conditions Lupus Nephritis

    Matched “Mescaline” in the study’s intervention “Mescaline sodium enteric-coated tablets”

  • NCT04849013Completed · Phase 1

    Role of the Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor in Mescaline-induced Altered States of Consciousness

    Enrollment
    16Tactual
    Started
    2021-08-11
    Sponsor
    University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    Conditions Healthy

    Matched “Mescaline” in the study’s intervention “Mescaline 100mg”

  • NCT04227756Completed · Phase 1

    Comparative Acute Effects of LSD, Psilocybin and Mescaline

    Enrollment
    32Tactual
    Started
    2020-05-19
    Sponsor
    University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    Conditions Healthy

    Matched “Mescaline” in the study’s intervention “Mescaline”

Records from ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH), API v2. A study is listed against a compound only when a verified name for that compound appears as a whole word in one of the study's own intervention names. A short code must appear as written, and a name the registry uses for something else (Aleph, a vaccine maker) is not matched. Title matches are not accepted. The matched name and the intervention text it matched are shown with every row.

Searched as Mescaline · 3,4,5-Trimethoxyphenethylamine · 3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzeneethanamine. Run this search at the registry — it returns the unfiltered result, including studies this page rejected as belonging to a different molecule.

A registered trial is a protocol somebody filed with the registry. It is not a result, and nothing on this plate says whether Mescaline worked.

XI · Literature

Sources behind this dossier

The papers this compound's values were read from, ranked by what each contributed. Not a review of the field.

Every paper below is one some value on this page came from — a binding constant, a passage of pharmacology or toxicology, or a measured duration. Each entry says what this archive took from it. Nothing else is claimed about any of them: the title is the study’s own account of itself, and a summary written here would be an assertion with no source behind it.

  1. 01

    Psychedelics and the human receptorome

    Ray TS · PloS one 2010

    • · 4 measurements at 4 targets (Ki), strongest Alpha2C at 6.13 pX

    PMID 20126400

  2. 02

    Receptor interaction profiles of novel N-2-methoxybenzyl (NBOMe) derivatives of 2,5-dimethoxy-substituted phenethylamines (2C drugs)

    Rickli A, Luethi D, Reinisch J et al. · Neuropharmacology 2015

    • · 3 measurements at 3 targets (Ki), strongest Alpha2A at 5.85 pX

    PMID 26318099

  3. 03

    Differentiation of 5-hydroxytryptamine2 receptor subtypes using 125I-R-(-)2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodo-phenylisopropylamine and 3H-ketanserin

    McKenna DJ, Peroutka SJ · The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 1989

    • · 1 measurement at 1 target (Ki), strongest 5-HT2A at 6.82 pX

    PMID 2795135

  4. 04

    Comparative acute effects of mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study in healthy participants

    Ley L, Holze F, Arikci D et al. · Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2023

    • · Duration of acute subjective effects
    • · 3 timed observations on the simulation plate

    PMID 37231080

  5. 05

    Hallucinogens recruit specific cortical 5-HT(2A) receptor-mediated signaling pathways to affect behavior

    González-Maeso J, Weisstaub NV, Zhou M et al. · Neuron 2007

    • · Mechanism of Action

    PMID 17270739

  6. 06

    Effects of mescaline and some of its analogs on cholinergic neuromuscular transmission

    Ghansah E, Kopsombut P, Malleque MA et al. · Neuropharmacology 1993

    • · Mechanism of Action

    PMID 8383816

  7. 07

    Mescaline-induced psychopathological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects in normal subjects: experimental psychosis as a tool for psychiatric research

    Hermle L, Fünfgeld M, Oepen G et al. · Biological psychiatry 1992

    • · Human Toxicity Excerpts

    PMID 1467389

  8. 08

    A mescaline associated fatality

    Reynolds PC, Jindrich EJ · Journal of analytical toxicology 1985

    • · Human Toxicity Excerpts

    PMID 4033076