British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
August 7, 2026
J. Nadler, Michaela J. Sommer, Annette Zschiesche et al.
Numerous analogues of the psychedelic and internationally controlled hallucinogen LSD have been described; however, only a limited number have been systematically investigated. This report presents the first case with an analytically confirmed ingestion of ETH-LAD (6-ethyl-6-nor-lysergic acid diethylamide), the N-ethyl derivative of LSD. An adolescent patient developed moderate to severe...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
July 21, 2026
M. B. Cervera-Sánchez, Daniel San-Juan, Roberto Díaz-peregrino et al.
Psilocybin shows potential in neuropsychiatric disorders but has a complex relationship with epilepsy and seizures. We reviewed literature up to November 2025 to identify studies relevant to psilocybin's effects on seizures and epilepsy, including our research on serotonergic modulation. Core studies addressing the research question and supplementary mechanistic evidence were included for...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
July 20, 2026
Laxna Bhujel, Angela L Chiew, Bhashita Jagarlamudi et al.
Recreational nitrous oxide (N2O) misuse is an increasing public health problem associated with functional cobalamin (B12) deficiency and severe neurological complications. Despite growing recognition of its harms, the dose-response relationship and clinical value of biomarkers remain unclear. This study aimed to characterize the demographics, patterns of use, outcomes, and biomarker utility in...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
July 1, 2026
Marije E. Otto, Gabriël E. Jacobs, Joost C Van Mechelen et al.
Oral administration of (S)-ketamine for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), as alternative to the registered intranasal or off-label intravenous administrations, has high potential. However, it is characterized by an extensive first-pass metabolism, resulting in low (S)-ketamine exposure and high levels of active metabolites, including (S)-norketamine and (S)-hydroxynorketamine. The relative...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
June 24, 2026
Catherine M K E De Cuba, Annika A De Goede, Joost C Van Mechelen et al.
This study aimed to investigate a set of pharmacodynamic biomarkers reflecting acute, delayed and sustained central nervous system effects of S-ketamine, used as a tool compound for rapid-acting antidepressant activity, with the goal of informing biomarker strategies for delayed antidepressant effects. In this randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, 4-way crossover study in...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
May 8, 2026
Ioanna Artemis Vamvakopoulou, Dasha Nicholls, David Nutt et al.
Rates of mental illness in young people are increasing, whereas the development of novel mental health treatments has not significantly progressed. Psychedelic-assisted therapy, using substances such as psilocybin and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), has shown potential in the treatment of mental illnesses in the adult population, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
June 16, 2025
Wellenberg K Simon, Tanja M Gampfer, Wagmann Lea et al.
1 citation
The aim of this study was to develop a novel workflow to identify human urine biomarkers for drugs of abuse and new psychoactive substances. Metabolites of amphetamine, cocaine, LSD, MDMA, methamphetamine, THC, MDMB-CHMICA, and MDPPP were first identified in a zebrafish embryo (ZE) metabolism study followed by comparison to most abundant human metabolites in literature. Finally, metabolites...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
December 1, 2024
Jeremy Weleff, Julio C Nunes, Gabriel P. A. Costa et al.
8 citations
The rise of psychedelics in contemporary medicine has sparked interest in their potential therapeutic applications. While traditionally associated with countercultural movements and recreational use, recent research has shed light on the potential benefits of psychedelics in various mental health conditions. In this review, we explore the possible role of psychedelics in the management of...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
December 1, 2024
Gisela Lima, Carla Soares, Marta Teixeira et al.
4 citations
Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the search for the use of psychedelics in improving physical and mental health. Anaesthesia has evolved since very early times, born from the need to eliminate pain and reduce suffering and there are reports of the use of anaesthetics to achieve mystical states since the nineteenth century. Nowadays, the renaissance of psychedelics in...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
November 25, 2024
Aaron Klaiber, Mélusine Humbert‐droz, Laura Ley et al.
6 citations
Psychedelics, including mescaline, may serve as novel treatments for depression and anxiety. However, data is scarce on the safety of mescaline. The present pooled analysis included two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies with a total of 48 participants and 96 mescaline administrations. Single oral-dose administrations (n = 16/dose) of mescaline at doses of 100-800 mg were...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
August 1, 2024
Kaizheng Chen, Yaming Xie, Songyuan Chi et al.
6 citations
Esketamine may reduce acute postoperative pain in several settings. However, the effects of low-dose esketamine on postoperative pain after vestibular schwannoma (VS) resection with propofol/remifentanil total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) are unclear. The aim of this study is to observe the effects of intraoperative low-dose esketamine on postoperative pain after vestibular schwannoma...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
July 24, 2024
Eric L Garland
The opioid crisis emerged in part due to the overprescribing of opioid analgesics for chronic pain. Although not the only source of the current epidemic of opioid use disorder (OUD), the prescription of opioids for chronic pain remains one vector for the development of opioid misuse and OUD. However, opioid tapering is not appropriate for all patients, and some patients may need to remain on...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
2024
Friederike Holze, Livio Erne, Urs Duthaler et al.
12 citations
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is currently investigated for several neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Various studies have investigated the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship of LSD in healthy participants, but data on urinary recovery and confirmatory studies are missing. The present study characterized the pharmacokinetics,...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
July 17, 2023
Balázs Szigeti, Lawrence D. Phillips, David Nutt
13 citations
The two pillars of modern medical research are where in most randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the active treatment is compared with placebo. A recent expert consensus survey endorsed the statement that 'Results from placebo-controlled trials are more reliable than results from any other study design',1 reflecting that placebo controlled RCTs are considered to be the gold standard. However,...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
November 1, 2022
Bruno Revol, Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre, Nathalie Fouilhé Sam-Lai et al.
Ketamine and dextromethorphan are widely abused psychoactive substances. Inhibition of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) results in neurobehavioural effects including hallucinations, "out of body" sensations and dissociative effects. However, little is known about a possible extended addictive class effect linked to pharmacologically-related amino-adamantane derivatives (e.g., amantadine...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
April 22, 2022
Ahmad Shamabadi, Ali Ahmadzade, Alireza Hasanzadeh
11 citations
The urgent need for appropriate treatment for suicide, the tenth leading cause of death, has led to numerous studies. This study aims to systematically identify and appraise systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses investigating ketamine in suicidal ideation and behaviours. Scopus, ISI, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and two registries were searched...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
February 6, 2020
F. Measham
AIMS To explore the feasibility of delivering community-based drug safety testing ('drug checking'), to trial service design characteristics and to compare with festival-based testing. METHODS 171 substances of concern were submitted on five dates at three venues in two UK cities and tested using up to six analytical techniques. Test results and harm reduction advice were distributed directly...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
March 19, 2019
Friederike Holze, Urs Duthaler, Patrick Vizeli et al.
72 citations
Aims The aim of the present study was to characterize the pharmacokinetics and exposure–subjective response relationship of a novel oral solution of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that was developed for clinical use in research and patients. Method LSD (100 μg) was administered in 27 healthy subjects using a placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, cross‐over design. Plasma levels of LSD, nor‐LSD,...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
December 11, 2015
Matthias E. Liechti, Boris B. Quednow, Evangelia Liakoni et al.
57 citations
AIMS: γ-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is used as a treatment for narcolepsy and alcohol withdrawal and as a recreational substance. Nevertheless, there are limited data on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships of GHB in humans. We characterized the pharmacokinetic profile and exposure-psychotropic effect relationship of GHB in humans. METHODS: Two oral doses of GHB (25...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
February 21, 2013
Marieke Niesters, Christian H. Martini, Albert Dahan
498 citations
The anaesthetic ketamine is used to treat various chronic pain syndromes, especially those that have a neuropathic component. Low dose ketamine produces strong analgesia in neuropathic pain states, presumably by inhibition of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor although other mechanisms are possibly involved, including enhancement of descending inhibition and anti-inflammatory effects at central...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
February 1, 2012
Xiaochen Zhao, Swarajya Lakshmi Vattem Venkata, Ruin Moaddel et al.
136 citations
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT • (R,S)‐ketamine is a phencyclidine derivative that was initially developed as an anaesthetic agent and which is currently being studied in the treatment of pain and depression. After administration, the drug is extensively N‐demethylated to (R,S)‐norketamine. The pharmacokinetics of ketamine and norketamine have been extensively studied in volunteers...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
June 1, 2002
Jordi Riba, P. Anderer, Adelaida Morte et al.
126 citations
Aims Ayahuasca is a traditional South American psychoactive beverage used in Amazonian shamanism, and in the religious ceremonies of Brazilian‐based syncretic religious groups with followers in the US and several European countries. This tea contains measurable amounts of the psychotropic indole N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and β‐carboline alkaloids with MAO‐inhibiting properties. In a...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
February 1, 2000
Rafael de la Torre, Magı́ Farré, Jordi Ortuño et al.
Aims 3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, commonly called ecstasy) is a synthetic compound increasingly popular as a recreational drug. Little is known about its pharmacology, including its metabolism and pharmacokinetics, in humans in controlled settings. A clinical trial was designed for the evaluation of MDMA pharmacological effects and pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers. Methods A...
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
April 1, 1985
Michael Schächter, David P. Geaney, Dg Grahame‐smith et al.
20 citations
Using a [3H]‐lysergic acid diethylamide [(3H]‐LSD) binding technique, platelet 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) receptor number and affinity were compared in schizophrenics treated with depot thioxanthenes and phenothiazines and controls. There was an approximately 30% increase in platelet receptor number (Bmax) in the patient group. There was a decrease in affinity (increase in Kd) of about 30% in...