ABSTRACT Kambô is the name for the secretion of the Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) containing a plethora of bioactive peptides. Originally, it is ritually used by different ethnicities from the Amazon basin as a remedy against bad luck in hunting. In the last twenty years, Kambô has spread to Western urban centers, often associated with the use of ayahuasca. Anecdotal reports claim...
Abstract Abstract Ayahuasca is a psychoactive plant brew containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). It originates from the Amazon basin, where it is used primarily for ceremonial purposes. Ayahuasca tourists are now entering certain communities seeking alternative physical or psychological healing, as well as spiritual growth. Rationale Recent evidence has...
Robin Carhart-Harris moved to Imperial College London in 2008 after obtaining a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol and an MA in Psychoanalysis from Brunel University. At Imperial, he has designed and/or carried out brain imaging studies involving LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, plus a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, and an ongoing study...
Orexinergic neurons, which are closely associated with narcolepsy, regulate arousal and reward circuits through the activation of monoaminergic neurons. Psychostimulants as well as 5-HT-related compounds have potential in the treatment of human narcolepsy. Previous studies have demonstrated that orexin receptor antagonists as well as orexin deficiencies affect the pharmacological effects of...
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive infusion with a large pharmacological application normally prepared with Banisteriopsis caapi, which contains the monoamine oxidase inhibitors β-carbolines, and Psichotria virids, which contains the serotonin receptor agonist N,N dimethyltryptamine (DMT). The objectives of this study were to investigate the chemical profile of B. caapi and of ayahuasca collected in...
Synthetic phenethylamines are widely abused drugs, comprising new psychoactive substances such as synthetic cathinones, but also well-known amphetamines such as methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy). Cathinones and amphetamines share many toxicodynamic mechanisms. One of their potentially life-threatening consequences, particularly of MDMA, is serotonin-mediated...
Cannabinoid administration during adolescence affects various physiological processes, such as motor and affective response, cognitive-related functions and modulates neurotransmitter activity. Literature remains scant concerning the parallel examination of the effects of adolescent escalating low-dose Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9 -THC) on the behavioral and plasticity profile of adult rats in...
Background: Synthetic cathinone derivatives are used as alternatives both for stimulant drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine and for club drugs such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), but little is known about their MDMA-like subjective effects. Methods In order to determine their similarity to MDMA, the discriminative stimulus effects of 10 pyrrolidinyl cathinones...
Abstract Purpose N-Methoxybenzyls, a group of toxic phenylethylamine derivatives of the 2C family compounds, are a new class of potent serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonist hallucinogens with potential harmful effects. This study summarizes current state of knowledge of one of the most dangerous representative of this group—N-(2-methoxybenzyl)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-chlorophenethylamine (25C-NBOMe). Due...
Background: Psilocybin is a naturally occurring serotonin receptor agonist that can be, more commonly, found in the Psilocybe mushrooms. Consumed by indigenous cultures for millenia, Psilocybin, in the 1960s, was marketed in many countries under the trade name Indocybin, and, before its eventual ban, was safely used as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of depression and anxiety....