The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 1, 2026
C Sheridan, G Thuery, K Brennan et al.
Abstract Background Serotonergic psychedelics have recently re-emerged as promising therapeutic agents in psychiatry, showing positive outcomes in clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression, major depression, and PTSD. However, their effects on the immune system are poorly characterized. It remains unclear whether these compounds exert immunomodulatory effects that contribute to their...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
June 2, 2026
John R. Kelly, Christopher Sheridan, Patricia Iusan et al.
Classical serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, show emerging evidence of therapeutic potential across a range of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, with indications of transdiagnostic efficacy. While early-phase studies yielded encouraging results, recent larger-scale phase 3 trials, such as those evaluating psilocybin for...
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
May 1, 2026
Brian O'Mahony, Colm Harrington, Andrew Harkin et al.
Psychedelic drugs are increasingly under investigation as potential therapeutic agents for mental health conditions and are being increasingly used recreationally. Psychedelic use may result in an episode of intense psychological distress, commonly referred to as a "bad trip." Bad trips represent a potentially volatile, erratic, and dangerous situation, which may, in extreme cases, require...
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2026
Guillaume Thuery, Frank Crossen, Daniel Mc Loone et al.
1 citation
Approximately 15% of pregnant women experience postpartum depression (PPD). Even with currently available antidepressant treatments, many women will continue to be impaired by symptoms. Psychedelic therapy offers a promising transdiagnostic therapeutic strategy for several mental health disorders, and early results from current trials suggest that serotonergic psychedelics may represent a...
Acta Neuropsychiatrica
July 25, 2025
Guillaume Thuery, Christopher Sheridan, Patricia Iusan et al.
4 citations
By synthesising findings from both clinical and preclinical research, this review aims to provide an understanding of the interplay between 5-HT2A receptor psychedelics and the immune system and considers how their immunomodulatory effects associate with neuronal and behavioural changes. A PubMed literature search covering the past 30 years was conducted using keywords such as "5-HT2A...
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine
November 7, 2024
Andrew Gribben, Tara Burke, Colm Harrington et al.
5 citations
Abstract Objectives: Understanding variations in knowledge and attitudes of psychiatrists to psilocybin therapy is important for the collective discourse about the potential impact on clinical practice and public health in Ireland. Methods: A 28-item questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed to psychiatrists in Ireland via online mailing lists and at in-person...
2024
Jo-Hanna Ivers, Katy Tobin, Colm Harrington et al.
OBJECTIVES Understanding variations in knowledge and attitudes of psychiatrists to psilocybin therapy is important for the collective discourse about the potential impact on clinical practice and public health in Ireland. METHODS A 28-item questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed to psychiatrists in Ireland via online mailing lists and at in-person academic events....
International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP
2023
John R. Kelly, Gerard Clarke, Andrew Harkin et al.
33 citations
Moving towards a systems psychiatry paradigm embraces the inherent complex interactions across all levels from micro to macro and necessitates an integrated approach to treatment. Cortical 5-HT2A receptors are key primary targets for the effects of serotonergic psychedelics. However, the therapeutic mechanisms underlying psychedelic therapy are complex and traverse molecular, cellular, and...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
December 17, 2021
John R. Kelly, Claire M. Gillan, Jack Prenderville et al.
66 citations
Accumulating clinical evidence shows that psychedelic therapy, by synergistically combining psychopharmacology and psychological support, offers a promising transdiagnostic treatment strategy for a range of disorders with restricted and/or maladaptive habitual patterns of emotion, cognition and behavior, notably, depression (MDD), treatment resistant depression (TRD) and addiction disorders,...
British Journal of Pharmacology
June 1, 2012
Natacha Vanattou‐saïfoudine, Ruth Mcnamara, Andrew Harkin
60 citations
Concomitant consumption of caffeine with recreational psychostimulant drugs of abuse can provoke severe acute adverse reactions in addition to longer term consequences. The mechanisms by which caffeine increases the toxicity of psychostimulants include changes in body temperature regulation, cardiotoxicity and lowering of the seizure threshold. Caffeine also influences the stimulatory,...
British Journal of Pharmacology
May 24, 2010
Natacha Vanattou‐saïfoudine, Ruth Mcnamara, Andrew Harkin
39 citations
Background and purpose: Caffeine exacerbates the hyperthermia associated with an acute exposure to 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘Ecstasy’) in rats. The present study investigated the mechanisms mediating this interaction. Experimental approach: Adult male Sprague‐Dawley rats were treated with caffeine (10 mg·kg −1 ; i.p.) and MDMA (15 mg·kg −1 ; i.p.) alone and in combination. Core...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
December 12, 2008
Sarah Durkin, Alison Prendergast, Andrew Harkin
Long-term serotonin (5-HT) neuronal loss is currently a major cause of concern associated with recreational use of the substituted amphetamine 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy"). Such loss may be problematic considering that psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety and responses to first line treatments for these disorders are associated with 5-HT. In this study the...
Neuropharmacology
January 2006
Ruth Mcnamara, Aoife Kerans, Barry O'Neill et al.
The present study determined the effect of caffeine co-administration on the core body temperature response and long-term serotonin (5-HT) loss induced by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy") and its metabolite methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA; "Love") to rats. In group-housed animals, caffeine (10 mg/kg) enhanced the acute toxicity of MDMA (15 mg/kg) and MDA (7.5 mg/kg), resulting in...
The European journal of neuroscience
August 2003
Andrew Harkin, Eamonn Shanahan, John P Kelly et al.
The effect of prior exposure to methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) on behavioural and neurochemical responses to fluoxetine were assessed in a rat model of antidepressant action. MDA (7.5 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered to rats twice daily for 4 consecutive days, and 4 weeks later the behavioural effect of fluoxetine (5 or 20 mg/kg; i.p. x 3) was examined in the modified rat forced-swimming test. In...
Pharmacology & Toxicology
May 1, 1997
Ivone de Souza, John R. Kelly, Andrew Harkin et al.
29 citations
Abstract: This study examined some acute pharmacological and toxicological effects of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”) over a range of doses (20, 40, 80, 160 and 320 mg/kg orally) in adult female rats. Deaths were observed from the 40 mg/kg MDMA group onwards. Reductions in body weight change, food and water intake were found in the 80 mg/kg group, whilst food intake alone...