Moderators of ayahuasca’s biological antidepressant action
Frontiers in Psychiatry December 5, 2022 Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Vagner Deuel de Oliveira Tavares, Ana Cecília de Menezes Galvão et al. 14 citations
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 72 participants, ayahuasca's effects on depression-related biomarkers were examined two days after dosing. Larger reductions in depressive symptoms during the session were linked to higher serum cortisol levels in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Smaller changes in salivary cortisol during ayahuasca use were associated with higher brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in patients who showed greater clinical improvement in depressive symptoms. No moderating effects were found for the cortisol awakening response, interleukin-6, or C-reactive protein in patients, nor for any biomarker in healthy controls or the placebo group. The findings suggest that acute emotional and physiological responses during ayahuasca sessions may influence key biomarkers of depression.