A Single Dose Of Ayahuasca Modulates Salivary Cortisol In Treatment-Resistant Depression
Ana Cecília de Menezes Galvão, Raíssa Nóbrega de Almeida, Erick Allan Dos Santos Silva, Fúlvio Aurélio de Morais Freire, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Heloisa Onias, Emerson Arcoverdee, João Paulo Maia‐de‐oliveira, Dráulio Barros de Araújo, Bruno Lobão‐soares, Nicole Leite Galvão‐coelho
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) January 31, 2018 preprint DOI: 10.1101/257238 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized placebo-controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Population | Treatment-resistant depressed patients and healthy volunteers |
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Dose | single dose |
| Duration | 48 hours after dosing session |
| Topics | Ayahuasca Depression |
| Keywords | Placebo Dosing Mood Depression economics Antidepressant Ingestion Hydrocortisone Endocrinology |
| Citations | 5 |
| Key findings | Ayahuasca normalizes the blunted awakening salivary cortisol response in treatment-resistant depressed patients 48 hours after a single dose, while placebo does not. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Major depression is a highly prevalent mood disorder, affecting about 350 million people, and around 30% of the patients are resistant to currently available antidepressant medications. Recent evidence from a randomized placebo-controlled trial supports the rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of ayahuasca on plasma cortisol and awakening salivary cortisol response, in the same group of treatment-resistant patients and in healthy volunteers. Subjects received a single dose of ayahuasca or placebo, and both plasma and awakening salivary cortisol response were measured at baseline (before dosing) and 48h after the dosing session. Baseline assessment (D0) showed blunted awakening salivary cortisol response and hypocortisolemia in patients (DM), both with respect to healthy controls group (C). Salivary cortisol also was measured during dosing session and we observed a large increased for both C and DM that ingested ayahuasca, than placebo groups. After 48h of the dosing session (D2) with ayahuasca, awakening salivary cortisol response (for both sexes) of treated patients became similar to levels detected in controls. This was not observed in patients that ingested placebo. No changes in plasma cortisol were observed after 48 hours of ayahuasca or placebo ingestion for both groups and sexes. Therefore, these findings point to new evidence of modulation of ayahuasca on salivary cortisol levels, as cortisol acts in regulation of distinct physiological pathways, emotional and cognitive processes related to etiology of depression, this modulation could be an important part of the antidepressant effects observed with ayahuasca. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of psychedelics in the treatment of human mental disorders.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on ayahuasca for depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial Patients with treatment-resistant depression | 2018 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 29 |
| Cortisol Modulation by Ayahuasca in Patients With Treatment Resistant Depression and Healthy Controls Treatment-resistant depression patients and healthy volunteers | 2018 | Randomized controlled trial | |
| Acute effects of ayahuasca in a juvenile non-human primate model of depression Juvenile marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), 8 males and 7 females | 2018 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 15 |
| A randomized placebo-controlled trial on the antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression Patients with treatment-resistant depression | 2017 | Parallel-arm, double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial | n = 29 |
| Moderators of ayahuasca’s biological antidepressant action Patients with treatment-resistant depression and healthy volunteers | 2022 | Randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial | n = 72 |