Salvinorin A : Pharmacology, therapeutic potential and structural considerations of a unique non-nitrogenous selective k-opioid receptor agonist, and active component of the sage Salvia divinorum. Adriano Ciaffoni Graduate School of Life Sciences, Utrecht University July 2014, Utrecht, The Netherlands Summary Salvia divinorum is a plant indigenous of Oaxaca, Mexico. Traditionally, the plant is used for healing and divinatory purposes. At present, S. divinorum is also used recreationally by teenagers and young adults around the world. The main active component is salvinorin A, a unique non-nitrogenous kappa-opioid receptor agonist with hallucinogenic properties. Scientific interest is high, due to two facts: 1) salvinorin A was the first [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy : A Paradigm Shift in Psychiatric Research and Development Eduardo Ekman Schenberg Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018, Volume 9, Article 733, 1-11 doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00733 Abstract Mental disorders are rising while development of novel psychiatric medications is declining. This stall in innovation has also been linked with intense debates on the current diagnostics and explanations for mental disorders, together constituting a paradigmatic crisis. A radical innovation is psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP): professionally supervised use of ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, LSD and ibogaine as part of elaborated psychotherapy programs. Clinical results so far have shown safety and efficacy, even for “treatment resistant” conditions, and thus deserve increasing attention [...]
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 suiteLong-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation Johnson M.W., Garcia-Romeu A., Griffiths R.R. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2017, 43, (1), 55–60 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2016.1170135 Abstract Background : A recent open-label pilot study (N = 15) found that two to three moderate to high doses (20 and 30 mg/70 kg) of the serotonin 2A receptor agonist, psilocybin, in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation, resulted in substantially higher 6-month smoking abstinence rates than are typically observed with other medications or CBT alone. Objectives : To assess long-term effects of a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation program at ≥12 months after psilocybin administration. Methods : The present [...]
Lire la suiteUnifying Theories of Psychedelic Drug Effects Link R. Swanson Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2018, Volume 9, Article 172, 1-23 www.frontiersin.org (2 March 2018) doi: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00172 Abstract How do psychedelic drugs produce their characteristic range of acute effects in perception, emotion, cognition, and sense of self? How do these effects relate to the clinical efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies? Efforts to understand psychedelic phenomena date back more than a century in Western science. In this article I review theories of psychedelic drug effects and highlight key concepts which have endured over the last 125 years of psychedelic science. First, I describe the subjective phenomenology of acute psychedelic effects using [...]
Lire la suite“Microdosers” of LSD and magic mushrooms are wiser and more creative. Anderson T., Petranker R. The Conversation, 2018 Available from: http://theconversation.com/microdosers-of-lsd-and-magicmushrooms- are-wiser-and-more-creative-101302 We just ran the first ever pre-registered scientific study on the microdosing of psychedelics and found some very promising results. We compared people who microdose — that is, who take a psychedelic substance such as LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) or “magic” mushrooms (psilocybin) in very small quantities — with those who don’t, and found that microdosers had healthier scores on key mental health and well-being measures. Specifically, we found that microdosers scored higher on measures of wisdom, open-mindedness and creativity. Microdosers also scored lower on measures [...]
Lire la suitePsychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges : an empirical codebook Thomas Anderson, Rotem Petranker2, Adam Christopher, Daniel Rosenbaum, Cory Weissman, Le-Anh Dinh-Williams, Katrina Hui and Emma Hapke Harm Reduction Journal, 2019, 16, 43, 1-10 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-019-0308-4 Abstract Background : Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of consuming very low, sub-hallucinogenic doses of a psychedelic substance, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. According to media reports, microdosing has grown in popularity, yet the scientific literature contains minimal research on this practice. There has been limited reporting on adverse events associated with microdosing, and the experiences of microdosers in community samples have not been categorized. Methods : In the [...]
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 [...]
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