THE DISTRIBUTION AND METABOLISM OF LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE

Abstract

Late in the 1950s, Axelrod became interested in the distribution, excretion, metabolization and rate of "biotransformation" of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by the body. In this first of several articles on the narcotic drug, he detailed the subcellular processes involved in the transformation of LSD, determined the order of concentrations of the drug in various tissues, determined that it was almost completely metabolized by the body, and found that their were considerable differences between various animal species in the rate of biotransformation of LSD.