Acute and subacute psychoactive effects of Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Maki Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): retrospective reports

Timo Torsten Schmidt; Simon Reiche; Caroline L. C. Hage; Felix Bermpohl; Tomislav Majić

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78527-4

Acute and subacute psychoactive effects of Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Maki Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): retrospective reports

Timo Torsten Schmidt, Simon Reiche, Caroline L. C. Hage, Felix Bermpohl, Tomislav Majić

Scientific Reports December 9, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78527-4 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Retrospective survey Peer reviewed
Sample size	22
Population	Anonymous users of Kambô
Intervention	Kambô
Topics	Ayahuasca Mysticism Psilocybin
Keywords	Amazonian Level of consciousness Hallucinogen Amazon rainforest Ecology Anesthesia
Citations	12
Key findings	Acute psychological effects of Kambô were mild to moderate with no psychedelic-type distortions, but persisting effects were predominantly positive with high personal and spiritual significance.

Abstract

Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) contains a plethora of bioactive peptides and was originally used by indigenous communities from the Amazon basin as medicine for improving hunting capacities. In the last 20 years, Kambô has spread to Western urban healing circles. To date it is still controversial whether the acute effects of Kambô include alterations of consciousness similar to known psychoactive substance like serotonergic psychedelics. Here we retrospectively assessed psychological effects of Kambô in a sample of anonymous users (n = 22, mean age: 39 years, ± 8.5; 45.5% female), administering standardized questionnaires for the assessment of altered states of consciousness (ASC), including the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) for acute effects and the Persisting Effects Questionnaire (PEQ) and a scale assessing connectedness for subacute effects. The intensity of retrospectively reported acute psychological effects remained on a mild to moderate level, with no psychedelic-type distortions of perception or thinking. Conversely, persisting effects were predominantly described as positive and pleasant, revealing high scores on measures of personal and spiritual significance.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on ayahuasca, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
Survey of subjective "God encounter experiences": Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT Adults reporting a single most memorable God encounter experience, either nondrug or...	2019	Cross-sectional survey	n = 4,285
Adverse effects of ayahuasca: Results from the Global Ayahuasca Survey. Ayahuasca users from more than 50 countries who completed an online survey	2022	Cross-sectional survey	n = 10,836
Ayahuasca in adolescence: a preliminary psychiatric assessment. Adolescents from a Brazilian ayahuasca sect and matched controls	2005	Controlled cross-sectional study	n = 80
Psychological and neuropsychological assessment of regular hoasca users. Regular hoasca users from a U.S. branch of União do Vegetal and matched non-user controls	2016	Cross-sectional study	n = 57
Indoleamine Hallucinogens in Cluster Headache: Results of the Clusterbusters Medication Use Survey People with cluster headache	2015	Cross-sectional survey	n = 496

Citations in the library

Cited by 5

Cites 23

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