The pharmacology of d-Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
edoc (University of Basel) 2017 DOI: 10.5451/unibas-006786123 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Phase I clinical trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy humans |
| Intervention | LSD |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Pharmacology Receptor |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | The thesis developed analytical methods for LSD measurement and investigated the acute psychological and physiological effects of LSD in healthy humans. |
Abstract
My PhD thesis consisted of two different scientific parts, each supervised by one of my advisors, Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Liechti and Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Katharina Rentsch. One part was to develop liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods to measure d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and its main metabolites in plasma, serum, and urine samples. We established the pharmacokinetics of LSD and collected data from emergency toxicological cases. Therefore we have developed and validated two analytical methods using LC-MS/MS which resulted in several publications. All analytical work was performed in the Toxicology Lab of the Laboratory Medicine at the University Hospital Basel under the supervision of Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Katharina Rentsch. The second part included planning, conduction, and analysis of clinical phase I trials with LSD. We investigated the acute psychological and physiological effects of LSD in healthy humans what resulted in several publication. These projects were supervised by Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Liechti at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University Hospital Basel. One LSD study included a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessment, to investigate the neural correlates of altered states of consciousness and emotion processing under the influence of LSD. The fMRI study was done in close collaboration with the team of Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Borgwardt from the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Basel.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) Healthy volunteers | 2016 | Within-subjects controlled trial | n = 20 |
| Study of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide as an Analgesic Agent Hospital patients | 1964 | Clinical trial | n = 50 |
| Localization of serotonin 5‐HT2 receptors in living human brain by positron emission tomography using N1‐([11C]‐methyl)‐2‐BR‐LSD Normal human volunteers | 1987 | Clinical trial | n = 7 |
| Psychedelic Therapy Utilizing LSD in the Treatment of the Alcoholic Patient: A Preliminary Report Alcoholic patients | 1967 | Pilot study | n = 69 |
| LSD-induced hallucinogen persisting perception disorder treatment with clonidine: an open pilot study Patients with LSD-induced hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) | 2000 | Open-label pilot study | n = 8 |