Intravenous DMT administered as a 30-second bolus followed by a 6-hour infusion, reaching peak blood concentrations around 35 ng/mL, is safe in healthy volunteers. No serious adverse events occurred; all side effects were mild and self-limiting. Vital signs, electrocardiography, and measures of suicidality or psychopathology showed no significant abnormalities. Mild psychedelic effects were accompanied by temporary decreases in sustained attention, postural stability, and occipital alpha brain wave power at the highest dose. Moderate variability in drug levels between individuals was observed. These findings support further testing of prolonged DMT infusion as a potential treatment to promote neuroplasticity in stroke recovery.
Oral S-ketamine (S-KETPO) has poor bioavailability (9-12%) and produces much lower peak concentrations of S-ketamine but higher levels of its active metabolites norketamine and hydroxynorketamine compared to intravenous S-ketamine (S-KETIV). In 16 healthy participants, S-KETIV caused sedative, psychomotor, and psychotomimetic effects along with reductions in brain electrical activity, while the higher oral dose (0.45 mg/kg) showed limited psychotomimetic effects and smaller brain activity reductions, and the lower oral dose (0.20 mg/kg) had no effects. Safety was similar across treatments. These pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences may affect dose selection and therapeutic outcomes in treatment-resistant depression.