Antidepressant, Antipsychotic, and Hallucinogen Drugs for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Convergence at the Serotonin-2A Receptor
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services – June 30, 2016
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A crucial finding in pharmacology reveals that combining common antidepressant and atypical antipsychotic medicines with hallucinogens can diminish the latter's therapeutic effects. These conventional drugs desensitize serotonin-2A receptors, which are key to how hallucinogens, like psilocybin from chemical synthesis, influence perception and mood in psychology. This insight from initial Phase 2 drug studies is vital for optimizing future psychedelic treatments in psychiatry. Understanding this neurotransmitter receptor influence on behavior is critical for medicine, suggesting careful consideration of existing medication regimens.
Abstract
Antidepressant, atypical antipsychotic, and hallucinogen drugs mediate their actions in part by interactions with the serotonin-2A (5HT2A) receptor. Serotonergic hallucinogen drugs, such as psilocybin, bind most potently as agonists at the 5HT2A receptor, producing profound changes in perception, mood, and cognition. Some of these drugs have been or are currently being investigated in small Phase 2 studies for depression, alcoholism, smoking cessation, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. However, unlike the synergistic effects of combining antidepressant and atypical antipsychotic drugs, the potential therapeutic effects of hallucinogen drugs may be attenuated by the concurrent use of these medications because antidepressant and atypical antipsychotic drugs desensitize and/or down-regulate 5HT2A receptors. This finding has important implications for optimizing the potential therapeutic use of hallucinogen drugs in psychiatry. [ Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 54 (7), 21–24.]