bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
August 11, 2026
István Pesti, Ágnes Bessenyei, Rita Frank et al.
preprint
ABSTRACT N,N -dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous psychedelic tryptamine that has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic candidate for acute ischemic stroke. Although DMT consistently reduces infarct size, attenuates neuroinflammation, and improves functional outcome in experimental stroke, the cellular and receptor mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood....
Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology
June 18, 2026
Nicholas V. Cozzi
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of deuterium substitution on the in vitro pharmacology of the psychedelic drug 2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethan-1-amine (2C-B). Two deuterated isotopologues of 2C-B, namely 2-(4-bromo-5-methoxy-2-(methoxy-d3)phenyl)ethan-1-amine (2CB-2OCD3) and 2-(4-bromo-2-methoxy-5-(methoxy-d3)phenyl)ethan-1-amine (2CB-5OCD3), were synthesized and...
Journal of the Neurological Sciences
May 15, 2024
Emmanuelle A. D. Schindler, R Andrew Sewell, Christopher Gottschalk et al.
37 citations
In a recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we observed a nonsignificant reduction of attack frequency in cluster headache after pulse administration of psilocybin (10 mg/70 kg, 3 doses, 5 days apart each). We carried out a blinded extension phase to consider the safety and efficacy of repeating the pulse regimen. Eligible participants returned to receive a psilocybin pulse...
Headache The Journal of Head and Face Pain
November 1, 2022
Christina Luddy, Yutong Zhu, Hayley Lindsey et al.
75 citations
Abstract Objective Using a patient‐informed regimen, we conducted an exploratory randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study to systematically investigate the effects of psilocybin in cluster headache. Background Sustained reductions in cluster headache burden after limited quantities of psilocybin‐containing mushrooms are anecdotally reported, although to date there are no controlled...
Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 1, 2022
Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Shariful A. Syed, L Taylor Flynn et al.
156 citations
There is considerable interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs. Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a potent, rapid-onset, and short-acting psychedelic drug that has not yet been independently tested for the treatment of depression. The safety, tolerability, and efficacy of intravenous DMT were investigated in treatment-resistant individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and...
Acta Crystallographica Section C Structural Chemistry
December 20, 2021
Alexander M. Sherwood, Robert B. Kargbo, Kristi W. Kaylo et al.
10 citations
Psilocybin {systematic name: 3-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-1 H -indol-4-yl dihydrogen phosphate} is a zwitterionic tryptamine natural product found in numerous species of fungi known for their psychoactive properties. Following its structural elucidation and chemical synthesis in 1959, purified synthetic psilocybin has been evaluated in clinical trials and has shown promise in the treatment of...
Neuropharmacology
July 1, 2021
Írisz Szabó, Viktória É Varga, Szabolcs Dvorácskó et al.
67 citations
Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), an endogenous ligand of sigma-1 receptors (Sig-1Rs), acts against systemic hypoxia, but whether DMT may prevent cerebral ischemic injury is unexplored. Here global forebrain ischemia was created in anesthetized rats and aggravated with the induction of spreading depolarizations (SDs) and subsequent short hypoxia before reperfusion. Drugs (DMT, the selective Sig-1R...
Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics
2021
Emmanuelle A. D. Schindler, R Andrew Sewell, Christopher Gottschalk et al.
138 citations
While anecdotal evidence suggests that select 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor ligands, including psilocybin, may have long-lasting therapeutic effects after limited dosing in headache disorders, controlled investigations are lacking. In an exploratory double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, adults with migraine received oral placebo and psilocybin (0.143 mg/kg) in 2 test...
ACS Omega
July 1, 2020
Jessica Sable, Tura Patterson, Gary Tarpley et al.
41 citations
A second-generation kilogram-scale synthesis of the psychedelic tryptamine psilocybin has been developed. The synthesis was designed to address several challenges first encountered with the scale-up of previously described literature procedures, which were not optimized for providing consistent yield and purity of products, atom economy, or being run in pilot plant-scale reactors. These...
Drug Testing and Analysis
July 1, 2020
Nicholas V. Cozzi, Paul F. Daley
12 citations
Abstract Since 2006, there has been a resurgent interest in the pharmacology and therapeutics of psychedelic drugs. Psilocybin, the 4‐phosphoryl ester of N,N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT), has been studied most often, but DMT itself is also appealing because of its brief but profound psychological effects and its presence as an endogenous substance in mammalian brain. Although there have been a few...
Neuropharmacology
November 1, 2018
Landon M. Klein, Nicholas V. Cozzi, Paul F. Daley et al.
43 citations
Substantial effort has been devoted toward understanding the psychopharmacological effects of tryptamine hallucinogens, which are thought to be mediated by activation of 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors. Recently, several psychoactive tryptamines based on the N,N-diallyltryptamine (DALT) scaffold have been encountered as recreational drugs. Despite the apparent widespread use of DALT derivatives in...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
June 27, 2018
Christopher R. Nicholas, Kelsey M. Henriquez, Michele Gassman et al.
85 citations
Aim: The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between escalating higher doses of psilocybin and the potential psilocybin occasioned positive subjective effects. Methods: Healthy participants ( n=12) were given three escalating doses of oral psilocybin (0.3 mg/kg; 0.45 mg/kg; 0.6 mg/kg) or (18.8–36.6 mg; 27.1–54.0 mg; 36.3–59.2 mg) a minimum of four weeks apart in a...
Clinical Pharmacokinetics
March 28, 2017
Randall Brown, Christopher R. Nicholas, Nicholas V. Cozzi et al.
189 citations
IntroductionPsilocybin is a psychedelic tryptamine that has shown promise in recent clinical trials for the treatment of depression and substance use disorders. This open-label study of the pharmacokinetics of psilocybin was performed to describe the pharmacokinetics and safety profile of psilocybin in sequential, escalating oral doses of 0.3, 0.45, and 0.6 mg/kg in 12 healthy...
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters
February 1, 2016
Nicholas V. Cozzi, Paul F. Daley
24 citations
N,N-Diallyltryptamine (DALT) and 5-methoxy-N,N-diallyltryptamine (5-MeO-DALT) are two tryptamines synthesized and tested by Alexander Shulgin. In self-experiments, 5-MeO-DALT was reported to be psychoactive in the 12-20mg range, while the unsubstituted compound DALT had few discernible effects in the 42-80 mg range. Recently, 5-MeO-DALT has been used in nonmedical settings for its psychoactive...
Drug Testing and Analysis
2012
Simon D. Brandt, Ruchanok Tearavarich, Nicola M. Dempster et al.
10 citations
The absence of reference material is a commonly experienced difficulty among medical and forensic professionals tasked with identifying new psychoactive substances that are encountered for the first time. The identification of newly emerging substances lies at the heart of forensic and clinical analysis, and a proactive public health policy calls for a thorough analysis of the properties of new...
Drug Testing and Analysis
December 29, 2010
Ruchanok Tearavarich, Viwat Hahnvajanawong, Nicola M. Dempster et al.
10 citations
The increased interest in N,N-dialkyl tryptamines is a reflection of their diverse range of biologically active properties. Deuterated derivatives are of interest for use as internal standards in bioanalytical or pharmacological assays. The present study reports on the synthesis of twelve novel 5-ethoxy-N,N-dialkyl-[α,α,β,β-H(4) ]-tryptamines and their [α,α,β,β-D(4) ]-counterparts following the...
J Neural Transm (Vienna)
September 12, 2009
Nicholas V. Cozzi, Anupama Gopalakrishnan, Lyndsey L. Anderson et al.
144 citations
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a potent plant hallucinogen that has also been found in human tissues. When ingested, DMT and related N,N-dialkyltryptamines produce an intense hallucinogenic state. Behavioral effects are mediated through various neurochemical mechanisms including activity at sigma-1 and serotonin receptors, modification of monoamine uptake and release, and competition for...
Science
February 13, 2009
Dominique Fontanilla, Molly Johannessen, Abdol R. Hajipour et al.
528 citations
The sigma-1 receptor is widely distributed in the central nervous system and periphery. Originally mischaracterized as an opioid receptor, the sigma-1 receptor binds a vast number of synthetic compounds but does not bind opioid peptides; it is currently considered an orphan receptor. The sigma-1 receptor pharmacophore includes an alkylamine core, also found in the endogenous compound...
The FASEB Journal
March 1, 2008
Nicholas V. Cozzi, Anupama Gopalakrishnan, Lyndsey L. Anderson et al.
The plant hallucinogen N,N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has been used for religious and other purposes for many centuries. Over the past few decades, DMT has been reported in human brain, and pharmacological studies have shown that DMT binds to monoamine receptors. Recently, several N,N ‐dialkyltryptamines were reported to modify monoamine uptake and release in rat brain synaptosomes, indicating...