Pharmaceuticals
August 7, 2026
Ouwais Aljabasini, Niki Tagkalidou, Martalu D. Pazos et al.
Background/Objectives: Synthetic cathinones are a rapidly evolving class of new psychoactive substances whose structural diversity complicates toxicological risk assessment. Methylenedioxy cathinones occupy a pharmacological space between MDMA-like entactogens and more dopaminergic stimulant cathinones, but their direct cardiac liabilities remain poorly characterized. This study aimed to...
Pharmaceuticals
July 8, 2026
Rodrigo Foss da Silva, Lennon Machado Alves, Fernanda Conte et al.
Background/Objectives: The study sought to investigate the neurotoxicity of NBOHs, which are a class of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) that act as agonists of serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors, resulting in hallucinogenic effects similar to those of LSD, often found in paper blotters. Methods: Differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were incubated for 24 h with 0.5, 1.0, 3.5, 5 and 10 nM of the...
Pharmaceuticals
February 28, 2026
Oliver Grundmann, Allison Henderson
Background: Opioid receptors are a commonly used target for treatment of pain conditions. Most opioids used in therapy are linked to adverse effects such as tolerance, dependence, and respiratory depression. Indole alkaloids acting on opioid receptors may provide a novel molecular mechanism to confer analgesic effects. Results: Indole alkaloids such as ibogaine and mitragynine act on μ-opioid...
Pharmaceuticals
February 14, 2026
Petra Dolenec, Goran Pelčić, Kristina Pilipović et al.
Glaucoma is increasingly recognized as an ischemic neurodegenerative disorder that extends beyond elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) to involve complex vascular, metabolic, and inflammatory mechanisms. Retinal ganglion cells are particularly vulnerable to ischemia-reperfusion injury, oxidative stress, and chronic neuroinflammation, leading to progressive disconnection from central visual...
Pharmaceuticals
November 3, 2025
Jay Toulany, Jasmyn E. A. Cunningham, Abraham Nunes
Background/Objectives: Lithium remains the first choice for long-term prophylaxis of mood episodes in bipolar disorder (BD), but only 30% of patients will respond, and there is no reliable method by which to predict treatment response. Ketamine is a rapid antidepressant therapy which ostensibly yields greater results in patients with clinical phenotypes that are classically associated with...
Pharmaceuticals
October 28, 2025
Kacper Żełabowski, Kamil Biedka, Wojciech Pichowicz et al.
Background: Driving is a coordinated psychomotor activity that involves reaction time, attention, and decision-making. Psychoactive substances such as 2-phenylethylamine (PEA) derivatives and opioids may affect these functions and contribute to traffic safety. This systematic review revealed the effects of the selected PEA derivatives and opioids on psychomotor performance among drivers and...
Pharmaceuticals
July 6, 2025
Pauline Braekow, Joachim Neumann, Uwe Kirchhefer et al.
Background/Objectives: Hallucinogenic substances such as psilocybin, psilocin, ergometrine, ergotamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have been demonstrated to enhance the force of contraction (FOC), in part due to the phosphorylation of phospholamban in human atrial preparations via 5-HT4 serotonin receptors and/or H2 histamine receptors. However, whether psilocybin or psilocin acts at...
Pharmaceuticals
July 1, 2025
Mateus Araújo Da Luz, H. Guedes, Antônio B. M. Bisneto et al.
5 citations
The Psilocybe genus is known for producing tryptamine alkaloids, specifically the compounds psilocybin and psilocin, which have shown antidepressant and anxiolytic potential. The presence of these alkaloids makes Psilocybe mushrooms promising sources of molecules with potential applications in the treatment of mental disorders. To explore this, a bibliographic study was conducted with the aim...
Pharmaceuticals
April 9, 2025
Hossein Omidian, Alborz Omidian
11 citations
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound, has garnered renewed scientific interest for its potential in treating psychiatric and neurological disorders. This review systematically examines the latest research on psilocybin’s pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, and safety profile. Emerging evidence supports its efficacy in conditions such as major depressive...
Pharmaceuticals
March 23, 2025
Gregory Ian Robinson, Marta Gerasymchuk, Timur Zanikov et al.
4 citations
Background/Objectives: Liver inflammatory diseases are a major global health burden and are often exacerbated by inflammation driven by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) through toll-like receptor 4 signaling. This study evaluates the anti-inflammatory effects of psilocybin and eugenol in an LPS-induced liver inflammation model in C57BL/6J mice. Methods: Mice were treated with psilocybin (0.88 mg/kg)...
Pharmaceuticals
March 7, 2025
Taynah P Galdino, Lucas C Oliveira, Mateus A Luz et al.
11 citations
The growing body of evidence supporting the therapeutic efficacy of psychoactive substances, like psilocybin, has driven significant interest in recent decades due to their low toxicity and potential applications in treating various mental health disorders. However, producing pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin remains challenging, with three primary approaches: chemical synthesis, biosynthesis,...
Pharmaceuticals
January 19, 2025
Marco Bonaso, Letizia Biso, Benedetta Zucchini et al.
13 citations
Psychedelics, historically celebrated for their cultural and spiritual significance, have emerged as potential breakthrough therapeutic agents due to their profound effects on consciousness, emotional processing, mood, and neural plasticity. This review explores the mechanisms underlying psychedelics’ effects, focusing on their ability to modulate brain connectivity and neural circuit activity,...
Pharmaceuticals
December 21, 2023
Katarina Savić Vujović, Ana Jotić, Branislava Medić et al.
32 citations
Ketamine as an old-new drug has a variety of clinical implications. In the last 30 years, ketamine has become popular for acute use in humans. Ketamine in standard doses is principally utilized for the induction and maintenance of surgical procedures. Besides its use in anesthesia and analgesia, recent studies have shown that ketamine has found a place in the treatment of asthma, epilepsy,...
Pharmaceuticals
August 15, 2023
Daniel Martins, Eva Gil-Martins, Fernando Cagide et al.
13 citations
Mescaline derivative (2C phenethylamines) drugs have been modified by the introduction of a N-2-methoxybenzyl group to originate a new series of compounds with recognized and potent psychedelic effects, the NBOMe-drugs. Although they are prevalent in unregulated drug markets, their toxicity profile is still poorly understood, despite several reports highlighting cases of acute intoxication,...
Pharmaceuticals
August 1, 2023
Boney Joseph, Nicolas A. Nunez, Simon Kung et al.
14 citations
Intravenous (IV) ketamine and FDA-approved intranasal (IN) esketamine are increasingly used for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Preliminary studies have suggested a synergistic effect of ketamine and lamotrigine, although the data are inconclusive. Herein, we report the response to serial ketamine/esketamine treatment among patients with TRD with or without lamotrigine therapy. In this...
Pharmaceuticals
July 17, 2023
Glorister A. Altê, Ana Lúcia S. Rodrigues
17 citations
Ketamine, a racemic mixture of esketamine (S-ketamine) and arketamine (R-ketamine), has received particular attention for its rapid antidepressant and antisuicidal effects. NMDA receptor inhibition has been indicated as one of the main mechanisms of action of the racemic mixture, but other pharmacological targets have also been proposed. This study aimed to explore the possible multiple targets...
Pharmaceuticals
April 1, 2023
Aleksander Kwaśny, A. Włodarczyk, Damian Ogonowski et al.
27 citations
Background: Depression is a debilitating disease with a high socioeconomic burden. Regular antidepressants usually require several weeks to ameliorate symptoms; however, numerous patients do not achieve remission. What is more, sleep disturbances are one of the most common residual symptoms. Ketamine is a novel antidepressant with rapid onset of action with a proven antisuicidal effect. Little...
Pharmaceuticals
February 1, 2023
Agnieszka Pałucha-Poniewiera, B. Bobula, Anna Rafało-Ulińska
(S)-Ketamine is the first rapid-acting antidepressant drug (RAAD) introduced for the treatment of depression. However, research is still being carried out on the search for further RAADs that will be not only effective but also safe to use. Recent data have indicated that the combined administration of (R)-ketamine and the mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist LY341495 (mixRL) induces rapid and sustained...
Pharmaceuticals
January 24, 2023
Adam Włodarczyk, Alicja Dywel, Wiesław Jerzy Cubała
10 citations
There is evidence for ketamine use in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Several safety concerns arise regarding adverse drug reactions in specific subpopulations. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of intravenous ketamine treatment in relation to dissociative and psychotic measures in TRD inpatients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar depression (BP) with...
Pharmaceuticals
December 31, 2022
Antonio Munafò, Davide Arillotta, Guido Mannaioni et al.
15 citations
Psilocybin has been suggested as a promising transdiagnostic treatment strategy for a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Recent findings showed that psychedelic-assisted/”psycholitic” psychotherapy should provide significant and sustained alleviation of depressive symptoms. However, to date, there have been several study limitations (e.g., small sample sizes, blinding, limited follow-up,...
Pharmaceuticals
November 30, 2022
Martin Paškan, Silvie Rimpelová, Vladimíra Svobodová Pavlíčková et al.
9 citations
New psychoactive substances and among them synthetic cathinones represent a significant threat to human health globally. However, within such a large pool of substances derived from a natural compound ((S)-cathinone), substances with important pharmaceutical uses can be identified, as already documented by bupropione. Therefore, this work aimed to find a synthetic pathway for a novel synthetic...
Pharmaceuticals
May 23, 2022
Danish Mahmood, Sattam Khulaif Alenezi, Md Jamir Anwar et al.
29 citations
Psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and mescaline exhibit intense effects on the human brain and behaviour. In recent years, there has been a surge in studies investigating these drugs because clinical studies have shown that these once banned drugs are well tolerated and efficacious in medically supervised low doses called microdosing....
Pharmaceuticals
January 21, 2022
A. Rafało-Ulińska, P. Brański, A. Pałucha-Poniewiera
Ketamine is an effective, rapid-acting antidepressant drug (RAAD), but it induces side effects. To overcome these challenges, attempts have been made to use safer enantiomer ((R)-ketamine) or mGlu2/3 receptor antagonists, which induce ketamine-like effects and enhance its action. Here, we propose combining these two strategies to investigate the antidepressant-like effects of low doses of two...
Pharmaceuticals
November 24, 2021
Robertas Strumila, Bénédicte Nobile, Laura Korsakova et al.
35 citations
The available interventions for people who are at risk of suicide have limited efficacy. Recently, research on new mental health treatments has started to consider psychedelic compounds, particularly psilocybin, a molecule with a few thousand years of history of use in human societies. The possible effects of psilocybin on suicidal ideation and behaviors have not been specifically studied yet;...
Pharmaceuticals
September 28, 2021
René Zeiss, Maximilian Gahr, Heiko Graf
17 citations
There has recently been a renewal of interest in psychedelic research on the use of psilocybin in psychiatric treatment and, in particular, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Several state-of-the-art studies have provided new insight into the mechanisms of action of psilocybin and its therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered. With this review, we...