Decreased neurotrophic factors expression and neurotrophin receptors signalling have repeatedly been reported in association with stress, depression, and neurodegenerative disorders. We have previously identified the hallucinogen 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine hydrochloride (DOI) as protective against trophic deprivation-induced cytotoxicity in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells and established...
Despite several studies suggesting the therapeutic use of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors type 2A (5-HT2A ) agonists in the treatment of substance use disorders, the neurobiological basis accounting for such effects are still unknown. It has been observed that chronic exposure to drugs of abuse produces molecular and cellular adaptations in ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons, mediated by...
Recent research suggests that functional connectivity changes may be involved in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Hyperconnectivity in the default mode network has been associated with psychopathology, but psychedelic serotonin agonists like psilocybin may profoundly disrupt these dysfunctional neural network circuits and provide a novel treatment for psychiatric disorders. We have...
The dimethoxyphenyl-N-((2-methoxyphenyl)methyl)ethanamine (NBOMe) compounds are potent serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists and have recently been subject to recreational use due to their hallucinogenic effects. Use of NBOMe compounds has been known since 2011, and several non-fatal and fatal intoxication cases have been reported in the scientific literature. The aim of this study was to...
All modern clinical studies using the classic hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in healthy subjects or patients in the last 25 years are reviewed herein. There were five recent studies in healthy participants and one in patients. In a controlled setting, LSD acutely induced bliss, audiovisual synesthesia, altered meaning of perceptions, derealization, depersonalization, and mystical...
Tryptamines have emerged as new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are distributed and consumed recreationally without preclinical studies or safety tests. Within the alpha-methylated tryptamines, some of the psychoactive effects of the prototypical alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT) have been described decades ago and a contributing factor of its acute toxicity appears to involve the inhibition of...
European Journal of PharmacologyApril 5, 2017James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye, Polepally Reddy Prabhakar, Luiz Carlos da Cunha et al.
The increasing cases of depression has made the searches for new drugs and understanding of the underligning neurobiology of this psychiatric disorder a necessity. Here, we modified the structure of salvinorin A (a known halucinogen) and investigated antidepressant-like activity of its four derivatives; 22-methylsulfanylsalvinorin A(SA1), 2-O-cinnamoylsalvinorin B (CSB), 22-azidosalvinorin A...
Although a number of medications are available for treatment of depressive disorders, one of the major limitations of all present antidepressants is delayed onset of action [1]. In addition, despite recent advances in the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of major depressive disorder, almost one third of patients fail to respond to any treatments [2]. In recent years, one of the...
Growing clinical and pre-clinical evidence points to a critical role for cannabidiol (CBD), the largest phytochemical component of cannabis, as a potential pharmacotherapy for various neuropsychiatric disorders. In contrast to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is associated with acute and neurodevelopmental pro-psychotic side-effects, CBD possesses no known psychoactive or...
IntroductionNovel psychoactive drugs (NPS) have rapidly increase in the last years in the drug market as a recreational use. A new group of toxic phenethylamine derivates named NBOMe of 2 C class present have emerged recently, are frequently bought using the internet and have similar effects to other hallucinogenic drugs; however, they may pose larger risks, due to the limited knowledge about...