Detection of Psychoactive N,N-Dimethyltryptamine Alkaloid Based on Surface‑Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Gold Nanostars in Flexible Inkjet‑Printing Paper Substrates

Abstract

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a serotonergic psychedelic that, when combined with monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibitors in the hallucinogenic beverage commonly known as ayahuasca, surpasses most common orally administered psychoactive drugs. There is a growing interest in the therapeutic potential of DMT due to recent clinical data showing the improvement of cognitive deficits associated with depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The development of analytical methodology for the monitoring of concentrations of DMT molecules to control the appropriate dosage for their use is essential for the treatment of patients. For this, we propose a novel flexible inkjet-printed paper substrate based on Au nanostars as proof of concept for DMT detection by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The substrate was applied to detect DMT in water as a first approach to more complex matrices like ayahuasca beverages or blood samples. The optimization and performance of SERS substrates with different print cycles indicate that one print is enough to achieve the great performance of the flexible paper substrates. The SERS analyses for DMT in different concentrations, 10-3 to 10-10 mol L-1, reveal a high sensitivity of the sensors with a silhouette coefficient of 0.84 obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) statistical projections.