Brain, behavior, and immunity
July 5, 2026
Bruno Pedraz-Petrozzi, Marta Marszalek-Grabska, Emilia Fornal et al.
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a major clinical challenge, with highly variable responses to ketamine. Immune activation characterizes a subset of patients with TRD. The kynurenine pathway (KP), which integrates immunometabolic signals with glutamatergic neurotransmission, may provide candidate biomarkers to inform personalized treatment. We investigated whether KP metabolites and...
Psychedelic Medicine
June 16, 2026
Max Wolff, Samuli Kangaslampi, Richard J. Zeifman et al.
This commentary critically examines the interpretation and analytic choices in Goodwin and colleagues’ recent analysis of therapeutic alliance in psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression. While the authors conclude that alliance did not meaningfully contribute to treatment efficacy, we argue that this interpretation is not supported by the reported results, which are, in...
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
May 27, 2026
Lea J. Mertens, Felix Betzler, Manuela Brand et al.
Psilocybin shows promise for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but long-term data are limited. This study examined the antidepressant effect of one or two psilocybin doses with adjunct psychotherapy in TRD until twelve months. This is a naturalistic follow-up of a phase 2b, randomized, active placebo-controlled trial, where participants were randomized to receive two drug administrations...
JAMA Psychiatry
March 18, 2026
Lea J. Mertens, Michael Koslowski, Felix Betzler et al.
9 citations
Importance: Psilocybin shows promise in treating depression, although limitations of previous research warrant further research. Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of oral psilocybin, 25 mg, with adjunct psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a 2-center, triple-blinded (investigator, participant, rater), phase 2b, active...
Der Nervenarzt
March 1, 2025
Moritz Spangemacher, Jonathan R Reinwald, Hana Adolphi et al.
Novel antidepressive substances are challenging the explanations for the mechanisms of action of traditional psychopharmacology. What could be the shared effects of various antidepressants and in this context what role do extrapharmacological factors, such as the body and environment, play? The available literature on clinical and preclinical data for assumed combined active factors of...
Deutsches Ärzteblatt international
December 16, 2024
Moritz Spangemacher, Andrea Jungaberle, Henrik Jungaberle et al.
3 citations
Treatment with psilocybin differs fundamentally from classic psychopharmacotherapy. Its potentially transdiagnostic, rapid, and sustainable efficacy and its positive effect on further dimensions of mental health beyond the patient's symptoms and psychopathology imply that it may have diseasemodifying and salutogenic mechanisms of action. Psychotherapy accompanied by the administration of...
Nervenheilkunde
April 1, 2024
Manuela Brand, Luca V. Faerber, Laura Kaertner et al.
1 citation
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Gegenstand und Ziel Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich mit der Behandlung von psychischen Erkrankungen mit psychedelischen Substanzen aus einem psychotherapeutischen Blickwinkel. Dabei wird die Rolle der „Integration“ von psychedelischen Erfahrungen diskutiert. Es wird der Frage nachgegangen, wie die außergewöhnlichen Erfahrungen, die Menschen unter Psychedelikaeinfluss...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2024
Bruno Pedraz-Petrozzi, Moritz Spangemacher, Anton Deicher et al.
6 citations
Neuroinflammatory processes in depression are associated with treatment resistance to conventional antidepressants. Ketamine is an effective new therapeutic option for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Its well-established immunomodulatory properties are hypothesized to mediate its antidepressant effect. In this context, higher levels of inflammation may predict a better treatment response....
The Lancet Psychiatry
December 12, 2023
Gerhard Gründer, Manuela Brand, Lea J. Mertens et al.
103 citations
Treatment of psychiatric disorders with psychedelic substances represents one of the most promising current treatment approaches in psychiatry. Since its inception in the 1950s, therapy with psychedelics has been conceptualised as psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy-ie, a form of psychotherapy that uses the profound biological effects of this class of substances as a catalyst for changing...
Der Nervenarzt
March 1, 2022
Gerhard Gründer, Manuela Brand, Laura Kärtner et al.
Psychedelics, such as psilocybin represent one of the most promising current therapeutic approaches in psychiatry. Psychedelics seem to have not only potent antidepressant effects. Do they also work particularly quickly, i.e. within one day? The available literature on clinical studies of psychedelics in depressive syndromes is presented both from the period up to the prohibition of these...
Neuropsychopharmacology
March 3, 2021
Nora Penzel, Linda A. Antonucci, Linda T. Betz et al.
18 citations
Cannabis use during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis. According to a current hypothesis, this results from detrimental effects of early cannabis use on brain maturation during this vulnerable period. However, studies investigating the interaction between early cannabis use and brain structural alterations hitherto reported inconclusive findings. We...