Salvinorin A, a kappa-opioid receptor agonist hallucinogen : pharmacology and potential template for novel pharmacotherapeutic agents in neuropsychiatric disorders Eduardo R. Butelman and Mary Jeanne Kreek Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2015 doi: 10.3389/fphar.2015.00190 Salvinorin A is a potent hallucinogen, isolated from the ethnomedical plant Salvia divinorum. Salvinorin A is a selective high efficacy kappa-opioid receptor (KOPr) agonist, and thus implicates the KOPr system and its endogenous agonist ligands (the dynorphins) in higher functions, including cognition and perceptual effects. Salvinorin A is the only selective KOPr ligand to be widely available outside research or medical settings, and salvinorin A-containing products have undergone frequent nonmedical use. KOPr/dynorphin [...]
Lire la suitePsychiatry might need some psychedelic therapy Matthew W. Johnson International Review of Psychiatry, 2018, 30, 4, 285-290, DOI: 10.1080/09540261.2018.1509544 EDITORIAL Psychiatry might need some psychedelic therapy In historical and modern-day studies, psychedelic drugs have shown promise in managing a variety of psychiatric disorders, but their medical use has often raised controversies. The controversies have related to social, political, and legal challenges. History Although anthropological evidence suggests that classic psychedelic drugs (hereafter, ‘psychedelics’) have been used by various indigenous peoples as sacraments and healing agents before recorded history, in the mid-twentieth century they came to occupy a place at the cutting edge of psychiatric research (Johnson, Richards, & Griffiths, [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelics in the treatment of unipolar mood disorders : a systematic review James J.H. Rucker, Luke A. Jelen, Sarah Flynn, Kyle D. Frowde and Allan H. Young Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016, 1-10 DOI: 10.1177/0269881116679368 Abstract Unipolar mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia), confer high rates of disability and mortality and a very high socioeconomic burden. Current treatment is suboptimal in most cases and there is little of note in the pharmaceutical development pipeline. The psychedelic drugs, including lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin, were used extensively in the treatment of mood disorders, and other psychiatric conditions, before their prohibition in the [...]
Lire la suiteEfficacy and Safety of Intranasal Esketamine for the Rapid Reduction of Symptoms of Depression and Suicidality in Patients at Imminent Risk for Suicide: Results of a Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study Carla M. Canuso, M.D., Jaskaran B. Singh, M.D., Maggie Fedgchin, Pharm.D., Larry Alphs, M.D., Ph.D., Rosanne Lane, M.A.S., Pilar Lim, Ph.D., Christine Pinter, M.S., David Hough, M.D., Gerard Sanacora, M.D., Ph.D., Husseini Manji, M.D., Wayne C. Drevets, M.D. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2018, 175, 620–630 doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17060720 Objective : The authors compared the efficacy of standardof- care treatment plus intranasal esketamine or placebo for rapid reduction of symptoms of major depression, including suicidality, among [...]
Lire la suiteThe paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) R. L. Carhart-Harris, M. Kaelen, M. Bolstridge, T. M. Williams, L. T. Williams, R. Underwood, A. Feilding and D. J. Nutt Psychological Medicine, 2016, 46, 1379–1390. doi:10.1017/S0033291715002901 Background : Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent serotonergic hallucinogen or psychedelic that modulates consciousness in a marked and novel way. This study sought to examine the acute and mid-term psychological effects of LSD in a controlled study. Method : A total of 20 healthy volunteers participated in this within-subjects study. Participants received LSD (75 μg, intravenously) on one occasion and placebo (saline, intravenously) on another, in a [...]
Lire la suitePotential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin Matthew W. Johnson & Roland R. Griffiths Neurotherapeutics, 2017, 14, 734–740 DOI 10.1007/s13311-017-0542-y Abstract Psilocybin and other 5-hydroxytryptamine2A agonist classic psychedelics have been used for centuries as sacraments within indigenous cultures. In the mid-twentieth century they were a focus within psychiatry as both probes of brain function and experimental therapeutics. By the late 1960s and early 1970s these scientific inquires fell out of favor because classic psychedelics were being used outside of medical research and in association with the emerging counter culture. However, in the twenty-first century, scientific interest in classic psychedelics has returned and grown as a result of [...]
Lire la suiteLysergic acid diethylamide : a drug of ‘use’ ? Saibal Das, Preeti Barnwal, Anand Ramasamy, Sumalya Sen and Somnath Mondal Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, 2016, Vol. 6, (3), 214–228 DOI: 10.1177/2045125316640440 Abstract : Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), described as a classical hallucinogen, began its journey from the middle of the last century following an accidental discovery. Since then, it was used as a popular and notorious substance of abuse in various parts of the world. Its beneficial role as an adjunct to psychotherapy was much unknown, until some ‘benevolent’ experiments were carried out over time to explore some of its potential uses. But, many [...]
Lire la suiteThe Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs: Implications for the Treatment of Mood Disorders Franz X. VOLLENWEIDER & Michael KOMETER Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2010, 11, (9), 642-51 DOI: 10.1038/nrn2884 Abstract After a pause of nearly 40 years in research into the effects of psychedelic drugs, recent advances in our understanding of the neurobiology of psychedelics, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin and ketamine have led to renewed interest in the clinical potential of psychedelics in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. Recent behavioural and neuroimaging data show that psychedelics modulate neural circuits that have been implicated in mood and affective disorders, and can reduce the clinical [...]
Lire la suitePredicting Responses to Psychedelics : A Prospective Study Eline C. H. M. Haijen, Mendel Kaelen, Leor Roseman, Christopher Timmermann, Hannes Kettner, Suzanne Russ, David Nutt, Richard E. Daws, Adam D. G. Hampshire, Romy Lorenz and Robin L. Carhart-Harris Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018 doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00897 Abstract Responses to psychedelics are notoriously difficult to predict, yet significant work is currently underway to assess their therapeutic potential and the level of interest in psychedelics among the general public appears to be increasing. We aimed to collect prospective data in order to improve our ability to predict acute- and longer-term responses to psychedelics. Individuals who planned to take a [...]
Lire la suite'Magic Mushrooms' Effective for Severe Depression Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW Medscape, October 20, 2017 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/887384 Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in “magic mushrooms,” is a promising intervention for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and appears to offer a rapid, sustained effect, new research shows. Investigators led by David Nutt, MD, PhD, professor of neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, collected pre- and posttreatment fMRI data on the use of psilocybin in 19 patients with severe major depression who had failed to respond to conventional treatments. The patients experience dramatic improvements in depressive symptoms 1 day following treatment; close to half met criteria for full response at [...]
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