The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update
August 1, 2021
Adding 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to manualized therapy for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulted in significant symptom improvement and reduced functional impairment relative to placebo in a Phase 3 trial. The researchers observed no increase in adverse events from use of MDMA, including no increase in suicidality. Study results were published online May 10 in Nature...
Journal of Traumatic Stress
August 1, 2021
Linnae Ponté, Lisa Jerome, Scott Hamilton et al.
42 citations
Expression of concern
Sleep disturbances (SDs) are among the most distressing and commonly reported symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite increased attention on sleep in clinical PTSD research, SDs remain difficult to treat. In Phase 2 trials, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy has been shown to greatly improve PTSD symptoms. We hypothesized that MDMA-assisted...
Psychologie Francaise
June 29, 2021
Baptiste Fauvel, Pascale Piolino
Resume On estime que le syndrome de stress post-traumatique (PTSD) reste chronique et severe pour 25 a 50 % des patients malgre une prise en charge psychotherapeutique. La MDMA (« ecstasy ») possederait des proprietes psychopharmacologiques qui renforcent l’alliance therapeutique et permettent au patient de travailler sur le contenu traumatique sans etre submerge par la peur et l’anxiete. Les...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
June 23, 2021
Julie B. Wang, Jessica Lin, Leah Bedrosian et al.
22 citations
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental health condition associated with serious adverse health outcomes and functional impairment. Previous MDMA–assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) studies have shown promising results in single site studies. Two open-label studies tested this modality in multisite clinical trials to assess the feasibility of scaling this manualized...
Nature Medicine
June 1, 2021
Jennifer Mitchell, Michael P. Bogenschutz, Alia Lilienstein et al.
965 citations
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents a major public health problem for which currently available treatments are modestly effective. We report the findings of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-site phase 3 clinical trial (NCT03537014) to test the efficacy and safety of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy for the treatment of patients with...
Cureus
May 17, 2021
Sarah Tedesco, Ganeya Gajaram, Shahzad Chida et al.
31 citations
Background: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), known recreationally as "Molly" or "Ecstasy", is a triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor. MDMA specifically acts as a weak 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptor agonist, targeting 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C receptors. Its potential use for therapeutic purposes with these pharmacological profiles remains a controversial subject. Studies have shown the...
European Journal of Pharmacology
May 7, 2021
D. Fonseca, D. M. Ribeiro, Margarida Tapadas et al.
23 citations
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA (known as "ecstasy") is a recreational drug of abuse, popular worldwide for its distinctive psychotropic effects. Currently, the therapeutic potential of MDMA in psychotherapy has attracted a lot of interest from the scientific community, despite the multitude of effects that this drug of abuse elicits on the human body. While neuronal effects have been...
The FASEB Journal
May 1, 2021
Alison Wakeford, Marissa Costa, Hannah Alton et al.
Previous preclinical studies have demonstrated that 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) dose‐dependently increases pro‐social behavior and affiliative vocalizations in male nonhuman primates. As diagnostic criteria for several psychiatric diseases includes deficits in social functioning, examining the conditions under which MDMA selectively increases pro‐social behavior may provide...
The FASEB Journal
May 1, 2021
Chris Bolden, Cameron Tilley, Charles E Hay et al.
3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is currently one of the most popular club psychostimulant and hallucinogens. MDMA's primary site of action is in the brain where it produces a “euphoric” feeling, this euphoria comes with a multitude of acute toxicities. In the periphery, MDMA acts as an immunosuppressive agent in the periphery decreasing the robust activity of the adaptive and innate...
International Review of Psychiatry
April 3, 2021
Catherine Bird, Nadav L. Modlin, James J. H. Rucker
78 citations
This review examines the role of trauma in psychiatric morbidity and analogous psychoneurobiological changes. Trauma is a necessary criterion for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), however, trauma history is highly correlated with a variety of psychiatric conditions. Some evidence suggests that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the most common psychiatric condition that arises following...