Comparison of the effect of intravenous administration of d-lysergic acid diethylamide on free and membrane-bound polysomes in the rabbit brain.

The intravenous administration of LSD to young adult rabbits resulted in the disaggregation of both free and membrane-bound classes of brain polysomes. Based on the analysis of LSD dosage and the time course of the LSD-induced brain polysome shift, it was found that free polysomes were more sensitive to the drug than the membrane-bound polysome fraction. LSD-induced hyperthermia may be involved in the disaggregation of free and membrane-bound polysomes, since a correlation was found between the extent of LSD-induced hyperthermia and the degree of brain polysome shift. Prevention of LSD-induced hyperthermia by maintaining the animal at 4 degrees C blocked the disaggregation of both polysome classes. Induction of hyperthermia by elevation of ambient temperature also resulted in a shift in free and membrane-bound polysomes. In all cases the disaggregation of polysomes to monosomes was not caused by RNase activation. During polysome disaggregation, polyadenylated mRNA associated with both free and membrane-bound polysomes was not degraded but was relocalized from polysomes to monosomes.