Frontiers in Pharmacology
2022
Chongguang Chen, Peng Huang, Kathryn Bland et al.
Selective kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists are promising antipruritic agents and analgesics. However, clinical development of KOR agonists has been limited by side effects, including psychotomimetic effects, dysphoria, and sedation, except for nalfurafine, and recently. CR845 (difelikefalin). Activation of KOR elicits G protein- and β-arrestin-mediated signaling. KOR-induced analgesic and...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
December 14, 2021
Bijia Song, Junchao Zhu
Recently, sleep has been recognized as a crucial factor for health and longevity. The daily sleep/wake cycle provides the basis of biorhythm, which controls whole-body homeostasis and homeodynamics. Sleep disturbances can contribute to several physical and psychological disorders, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. The clinical use of the...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
October 1, 2021
Maggie Kiraga, Natasha L. Mason, Malin V. Uthaug et al.
83 citations
Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian beverage, could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies like depression and anxiety disorders by changing otherwise disturbed cognitive and emotional processes. To better understand its full therapeutic potential, one way is to study the effects on processes like flexible...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
September 29, 2021
João Castelhano, Gisela Lima, Marta Teixeira et al.
34 citations
There is an increasing interest in the neural effects of psychoactive drugs, in particular tryptamine psychedelics, which has been incremented by the proposal that they have potential therapeutic benefits, based on their molecular mimicry of serotonin. It is widely believed that they act mainly through 5HT2A receptors but their effects on neural activation of distinct brain systems are not...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
September 16, 2021
Lukas A Basedow, Thomas Riemer, Simon Reiche et al.
16 citations
Background: Serotonergic psychedelics (SPs) like LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and mescaline are a heterogeneous group of substances that share agonism at 5-HT 2a receptors. Besides the ability of these substances to facilitate profoundly altered states of consciousness, persisting psychological effects have been reported after single administrations, which outlast the acute psychedelic effects. In...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
July 13, 2021
Friederike Holze, Isidora Avedisian, Nimmy Varghese et al.
66 citations
The psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has experienced a revival in research, including clinical trials that evaluate LSD-assisted psychotherapy. LSD induces perceptual alterations and influences emotion processing in ways that may support psychotherapy. Here, we investigated the effects of LSD on emotional empathy and mediating role of the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (5-HT 2A )...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
May 28, 2021
David M. O’shaughnessy, Ilana Berlowitz
21 citations
Background: In Peruvian Amazonian medicine, plant diets ( dietas ) are a fundamental and highly flexible technique with a variety of uses: from treating and preventing illness, to increasing strength and resilience, to rites of passage, to learning even medicine itself. Many of the plants used in diets are psychoactive; for example, one now well-known plant that can be dieted is Banisteriopsis...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
May 19, 2021
Brian Rush, Olivia Marcus, Sara Mallén García et al.
26 citations
The present study describes the protocol for the Ayahuasca Treatment Outcome Project (ATOP) with a special focus on the evaluation of addiction treatment services provided through Takiwasi Center, the first ATOP study site. The goal of the project is to assess treatment outcomes and understand the therapeutic mechanisms of an Ayahuasca-assisted, integrative treatment model for addiction...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
May 5, 2021
Débora González, Jordi Cantillo, Irene Hidalgo Pérez et al.
39 citations
Promoting well-being is one of the main goals to improve health in the world. We examined the well-being and quality of life over the course of one year in a sample that participated in an Indigenous Shipibo healing program where traditional healers work in a series of ayahuasca ceremonies. We also explored the role of decentering as a mediator of psychological well-being. Participants who...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
May 4, 2021
Ido Hartogsohn
49 citations
Set and setting is a fundamental concept in the field of psychedelic drug research, which points to the profound dependence of psychedelic effects on psychological, social, and cultural factors. Santo Daime is a Brazilian religion that makes elaborate use of ordering principles, techniques, and symbology to shape and direct the effects of the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca. This paper...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
April 15, 2021
Meiying Cui, Wanlin Dai, Jing Kong et al.
43 citations
Background: Major depressive disorder is associated with inflammation and immune processes. Depressive symptoms correlate with inflammatory markers and alterations in the immune system including cytokine levels and immune cell function. Th17 cells are a T cell subset which exerts proinflammatory effects. Th17 cell accumulation and Th17/Treg imbalances have been reported to be critical in the...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
February 26, 2021
Guy A. Higgins, Nicole K. Carroll, Matthew A. Brown et al.
67 citations
Long term benefits following short-term administration of high psychedelic doses of serotonergic and dissociative hallucinogens, typified by psilocybin and ketamine respectively, support their potential as treatments for psychiatric conditions such as major depressive disorder. The high psychedelic doses induce perceptual experiences which are associated with therapeutic benefit. There have...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
February 23, 2021
Michael Winkelman
62 citations
This review illustrates the relevance of shamanism and its evolution under effects of psilocybin as a framework for identifying evolved aspects of psychedelic set and setting. Effects of 5HT2 psychedelics on serotonin, stress adaptation, visual systems and personality illustrate adaptive mechanisms through which psychedelics could have enhanced hominin evolution as an environmental factor...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
January 20, 2021
Ole Jensen, Muhammad Rafehi, Lukas Gebauer et al.
24 citations
Psychostimulants are used therapeutically and for illegal recreational purposes. Many of these are inhibitors of the presynaptic noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin transporters (NET, DAT, and SERT). According to their physicochemical properties, some might also be substrates of polyspecific organic cation transporters (OCTs) that mediate uptake in liver and kidneys for metabolism and...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
2021
Johannes T. Reckweg, Natasha L. Mason, Cees van Leeuwen et al.
58 citations
5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a tryptamine with ultra-rapid onset and short duration of psychedelic effects. Prospective studies for other tryptamines have suggested beneficial effects on mental health outcomes. In preparation for a study in patients with depression, the present study GH001-HV-101 aimed to assess the impact of four different dose levels of a novel vaporized...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
2021
Leor Roseman, Yiftach Ron, Antwan Saca et al.
39 citations
Psychedelics are used in many group contexts. However, most phenomenological research on psychedelics is focused on personal experiences. This paper presents a phenomenological investigation centered on intersubjective and intercultural relational processes, exploring how an intercultural context affects both the group and individual process. Through 31 in-depth interviews, ceremonies in which...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
2021
Gabrielle M Henriques, Alexia Anjos-Santos, Isa R S Rodrigues et al.
10 citations
Ibogaine is a psychedelic extracted from the plant Tabernanthe iboga Baill. (Apocynaceae), natural from Africa, and has been proposed as a potential treatment for substance use disorders. In animal models, ibogaine reduces ethanol self-administration. However, no study to date has investigated the effects of ibogaine on ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). The present study aimed...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
December 3, 2020
Daniela Dudysová, Karolína Janků, Michal Šmotek et al.
37 citations
Serotonergic agonist psilocybin is a psychedelic with antidepressant potential. Sleep may interact with psilocybin’s antidepressant properties like other antidepressant drugs via induction of neuroplasticity. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of psilocybin on sleep architecture on the night after psilocybin administration. Regarding the potential antidepressant properties, we...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
December 3, 2020
Lauri Elsilä, Nuppu Korhonen, Petri Hyytiä et al.
13 citations
While interest in psychedelic drugs in the fields of psychiatry and neuroscience has re-emerged in recent last decades, the general understanding of the effects of these drugs remains deficient. In particular, there are gaps in knowledge on executive functions and goal-directed behaviors both in humans and in commonly used animal models. The effects of acute doses of psychedelic lysergic acid...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
October 7, 2020
Ilana Berlowitz, Ernesto García Torres, Heinrich Walt et al.
43 citations
Introduction Harmful usage of tobacco is a public health problem of global concern and, in many countries, the main risk factor for non-communicable diseases. Yet, in the Peruvian Amazon, the geographical region believed to be tobacco’s historical birthplace, this plant is associated with a strikingly different usage and repute: Tobacco (especially Nicotiana rustica L.) in this area is...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
September 2, 2020
Jenessa N Johnston, Jonathan S. Thacker, Charissa Desjardins et al.
25 citations
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, which necessitates novel therapeutics and biomarkers to approach treatment of this neuropsychiatric disorder. To assess potential mechanisms underlying the fast-acting antidepressant actions of ketamine we used a repeated corticosterone paradigm in adult male rats to assess the effects of ketamine on reelin-positive cells, a protein...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
March 18, 2020
Esther Papaseit, Marta Torrens, Mireia Ventura et al.
20 citations
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylphenethylamine (2C-E) is psychedelic phenylethylamine, with a chemical structure similar to mescaline, used as new psychoactive substance (NPS). It inhibits norepinephrine and serotonin uptake and, more relevant, acts as a partial agonist of the serotonin 2A (5-HT2 A), 2B (5-HT2 B), and (5-HT2 C) receptors. Consumers have reported that 2C-E induces mild-moderate psychedelic...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
February 6, 2020
Shan Li, Xiaoxiao Luo, Dongyu Hua et al.
Patients are more likely to suffer from central nervous system (CNS) complications after anesthesia and surgery. However, postoperative depression (POD) has not yet received sufficient attentions, and its pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies remain poorly understood. We here aimed to investigate whether brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) signaling...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
January 28, 2020
Esther Papaseit, Clara Pérez‐mañá, Elizabeth B. de Sousa Fernandes Perna et al.
27 citations
Mephedrone (4-MMC, mephedrone) is a synthetic cathinone derivative included in the class of new psychoactive substances. It is commonly used simultaneously with alcohol (ethanol). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the interactions on subjective, cardiovascular and hormone effects and pharmacokinetics between mephedrone and alcohol in humans. Eleven male volunteers participated as...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
November 28, 2019
Karolina E. Kolaczynska, Dino Luethi, Daniel Trachsel et al.
24 citations
Background: 2,4,5-Trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA-2) is a potent psychedelic compound. Structurally related 4-alkyloxy-substituted 2,5-dimethoxyamphetamines and phenethylamine congeners (2C-O derivatives) have been described but their pharmacology is mostly undefined. Therefore, we examined receptor binding and activation profiles of these derivatives at monoamine receptors and transporters....