Neuropsychopharmacology
July 7, 2026
Wojciech Pasławski, Daniel Doyon, Carl Johan Ekman et al.
Psilocybin is a rapid-acting antidepressant, but its mechanism of action in major depressive disorder remains unclear. In this secondary analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trial with multimodal CSF and blood biomarker measurements, psilocybin selectively reduced CSF galanin and noradrenaline, implicating that normalization of these co-transmitters is a key pharmacodynamic signature.
Molecular Psychiatry
April 8, 2026
Daniel Dautan, Anderson Camargo, Per Svenningsson
The discovery that a single subanesthetic dose of (R,S)-ketamine induces rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects by a completely different mechanism represents one of the most substantial break-throughs in depression pharmacotherapy. The recent study in Nature by Yue and colleagues represents a signi fi cant conceptual and technical advance by identifying NMDA-independent transient...
Molecular Psychiatry
June 1, 2025
Anderson Camargo, Anna Nilsson, Reza Shariatgorji et al.
5 citations
Ketamine may be a novel pharmacologic approach to enhance resilience and protect against stress-related disorders, but the molecular targets underlying this response remain to be fully characterized. The multifunctional protein p11 is crucial in the pathophysiology of depression and antidepressant responses. However, it is still unclear whether p11 plays a role in the pro-resilience effects...
Molecular Psychiatry
November 21, 2017
Ning Yao, Olga Skiteva, Xue-Qin Zhang et al.
123 citations
Low doses of ketamine trigger rapid and lasting antidepressant effects after one injection in treatment-resistant patients with major depressive disorder. Modulation of AMPA receptors (AMPARs) in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex is suggested to mediate the antidepressant action of ketamine and of one of its metabolites (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine ((2R,6R)-HNK). We have examined whether...
Journal of Neuroscience
November 23, 2011
Benjamin Di Cara, Roberto Maggio, Gabriella Aloisi et al.
97 citations
“Ecstasy” [3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA)] is of considerable interest in light of its prosocial properties and risks associated with widespread recreational use. Recently, it was found to bind trace amine-1 receptors (TA 1 Rs), which modulate dopaminergic transmission. Accordingly, using mice genetically deprived of TA 1 R ( TA 1 -KO ), we explored their significance to the actions of...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 2009
Anna M S Kindlundh-Högberg, Xiaoqun Zhang, Per Svenningsson
The recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxy-metamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') enhances serotonin and dopamine transmission. Repeated binge treatment with MDMA (5 mg/kg, 3 times daily, 3 h apart, once per week for 4 wk) was found to increase gene expression of S100B, a neurotrophic factor that modulates neuronal plasticity. Mutant mice overexpressing S100B were investigated to better understand how...
Neurotoxicology
November 2007
Anna M S Kindlundh-Högberg, Helgi B Schiöth, Per Svenningsson
The popular recreational drug, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is often taken as intermittent binges by adolescents at dance clubs. The neurobiological mechanisms that underlie MDMA-induced psychiatric conditions are still poorly understood. In the present study, mimicking adolescent patterns of administration, repeated intermittent MDMA binges (3x5 mg/(kg day) given 3h apart, every...
Science
November 21, 2003
Per Svenningsson, Eleni T. Tzavara, Robert Carruthers et al.
312 citations
Three distinct classes of drugs: dopaminergic agonists (such as D-amphetamine), serotonergic agonists (such as LSD), and glutamatergic antagonists (such as PCP) all induce psychotomimetic states in experimental animals that closely resemble schizophrenia symptoms in humans. Here we implicate a common signaling pathway in mediating these effects. In this pathway, dopamine- and an adenosine...