Adrenochrome

Adrenochrome, chemical formula C₉H₉NO₃, is a pigment obtained by the oxidation of adrenaline (epinephrine). Adrenochrome monosemicarbazone, also known as carbazochrome, is a hemostatic, meaning it reduces capillary bleeding.

Schizophrenia hypothesis

Studies in the mid-twentieth century have indicated that adrenochrome is metabolized as one of two other substances, dihydroxyindole or adrenolutin. Dihydroxyindole may balance the anxiety and depression effects of adrenaline to reduce tension and irritability. Defective processing of adrenochrome, however, primarily produces the toxic adrenolutin instead, which combines with adrenochrome. The adrenochrome-adrenolutin combination was hypothesized by Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond to result in disruption of the brain's normal chemical processes resulting in schizophrenia. This hypothesis could never be confirmed and has long been abandoned by medicine.

Chemistry

Adrenochrome is synthesized in vivo by the oxidation of epinephrine. In vitro, silver oxide (Ag₂O) is used as an oxidizing agent.

Psychoactive use

There has been a substantial amount of controversy about whether adrenochrome can be classified as a Psychotropic drug.. According to a work by A. Hoffer and H. Osmond, psychoactive effects of adrenochrome include euphoria, confusion, changed train of thought, and inability to concentrate.

Adrenochrome in popular culture

Movies and books

Author Hunter S. Thompson mentions adrenochrome in his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the book it is derived from a living donor's adrenal gland (removing the gland kills the donor; it cannot be taken from a corpse). As such, it is purported to be very exotic, and very intense: "the first wave felt like a combination of mescaline and methedrine". Thompson reported a significant perceived rise in body temperature that led to paralysis. The adrenochrome scene also appears in the novel's film adaptation. In the DVD commentary, director Terry Gilliam admits that his and Thompson's portrayal is fictional hyperbole. In fact, Gilliam insists that the drug is entirely fictional and seems unaware of the existence of a substance with even a similar name.

In the televised Inspector Lewis mystery Whom the Gods Would Destroy (2007), Lewis investigates a series of murders that revolve around the death of a prostitute some 20 years earlier. The prostitute had been murdered by a group of then-Oxford students (Sons of Twice Born) for the purpose of experiencing the high attained from adrenochrome.

Author Aldous Huxley mentions adrenochrome early in his book The Doors of Perception relating it to lysergic acid and mescaline.

In the Discworld novel Sourcery a character is described thus: "He looked like someone who had just eaten a handful of pineal glands and washed them down with a pint of adrenochrome. He looked so high you could bounce intercontinental TV off him."

In White Wolf's Aberrant RPG Soma is a drug which provides temporal superpowers and is derived from Adrenochrome.

Music

The Sisters of Mercy recorded a song called Adrenochrome, which appeared on the album Some Girls Wander By Mistake.

Otep has also recorded a song called Adrenochrome Dreams, which appeared on the album the Ascension. The song is highly psychedelic, narrating a discontinuous dream.

Adrenochrome was the title of a MOD format music file produced by the artist Dax

Punk band The Groovie Ghoulies released an album called Appetite For Adrenochrome, although the main themes of the album are based in 1950s era monster movies rather than drug use.

References

External links

• http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/adrenochrome/adrenochrome_info1.shtml
• Adrenochrome deposits resulting from the use of epinephrine-containing eye drops used to treat glaucoma from the Iowa Eye Atlas (searched for diagnosis = adrenochrome)