Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
March 15, 2015
Rafael Lanaro, Débora Bressanim de Aquino Calemi, Loraine Rezende Togni et al.
51 citations
Ayahuasca, a traditional beverage, contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which produces visionary effects. Analysis of nine ayahuasca aqueous extracts and three seized powder samples using HPLC-DAD revealed DMT concentrations of 402–2070.3 μg/mL, harmaline 27.5–181.3 μg/mL, harmine 294.5–2893.8 μg/mL, and tetrahydroharmine 849.5–2052.5 μg/mL in the extracts. One powder sample contained only DMT (82% and 2% w/w), another only harmaline (16% w/w) and harmine (12% w/w). Ritual oral ayahuasca use reduces overdose risk via vagal stimulation causing vomiting, whereas recreational smoking or inhalation of DMT increases bioavailability and intoxication potential.
Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
January 1, 2017
Nelson Francisco Correa-Netto, M.y. Masukawa, F. Nishide et al.
20 citations
Exposure to ayahuasca during childhood increased risk assessment behavior, indicating anxiety, and during adolescence decreased time spent in the platform quadrant during a memory test, indicating spatial memory impairment, in C57BL/6 mice. The beverage did not affect locomotion or open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze, nor did it alter acquisition of spatial reference memory in the Morris water maze. These behavioral changes were not long-lasting, as they were absent in groups exposed from childhood to adulthood or adolescence to adulthood.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
December 22, 2018
Sueli Moreira Mello, Paula Christiane Soubhia, Gabriela de Oliveira Silveira et al.
15 citations
Ayahuasca, a beverage made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, which produces visionary effects. Despite concerns about liver injury from oral consumption, this study measured biochemical markers of liver damage in 22 volunteers who had consumed ayahuasca at least twice monthly for over a year. No significant changes were found in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, creatinine, urea, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, or gamma glutamyl transferase. Chronic ayahuasca use in a religious setting apparently does not impair hepatic function.
Drug testing and analysis
March 1, 2021
Rafael Lanaro, Sueli Moreira Mello, Kelly Francisco da Cunha et al.
10 citations
After consuming ayahuasca, alkaloids such as DMT and β-carbolines reach higher peak concentrations and overall exposure in saliva than in serum, while their mean residence time is 1.5 to 3 times longer in serum. A statistical model suggests that serum concentrations can be predicted from saliva concentrations, though individual variability is large. Saliva offers a fast, noninvasive way to detect these alkaloids and could aid in identifying recreational use of similar compounds that pose intoxication risks.
Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
January 1, 2017
Nelson Francisco Correa-Netto, L.s. Coelho, G Galfano et al.
10 citations
Chronic exposure to ayahuasca over 12 months did not affect spatial reference memory, habituation, or anxiety in aging male mice. Twenty-eight 6-month-old male C57BL/6 mice received ayahuasca or water twice weekly for a year and were tested in the Morris water maze, open field, and elevated plus maze. Aging alone impaired memory retrieval (but not acquisition) and reduced locomotor activity, while anxiety remained unchanged. Ayahuasca treatment did not alter any of these age-related changes, suggesting that long-term ayahuasca use does not worsen or improve memory in mice.
Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis
November 29, 2018
Fábio Kummrow, Bianca S. Maselli, Rafael Lanaro et al.
9 citations
Ayahuasca, a beverage used in religious rituals and studied for therapeutic potential, is mutagenic in bacterial tests. The drink is made from Banisteriopsis caapi (containing β-carbolines like harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine) and Psychotria viridis (containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine). Using the Salmonella/microsome assay with strains TA98 and TA100, both ayahuasca samples tested were mutagenic with and without metabolic activation. The beverage from P. viridis alone was not mutagenic, while B. caapi alone was mutagenic for TA98. Harmine was nonmutagenic; harmaline was mutagenic only for TA98 without metabolic activation. Harmaline fully explained the mutagenicity seen with TA98 without S9 for ayahuasca and B. caapi samples, but other mutagenic compounds appear present and require further investigation.
Journal of ethnopharmacology
January 30, 2025
Santhiago C Graça, Isabella B Bustelli, Érica V Dos Santos et al.
2 citations
Ayahuasca, a beverage made from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, is used in the Amazon for healing. The B. caapi extract contains harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, which inhibit monoamine oxidase and can increase norepinephrine in the locus coeruleus, potentially reducing inflammation in neurological diseases. In male Wistar rats with locus coeruleus lesions induced by 6-hydroxydopamine, treatment with B. caapi extract reduced locus coeruleus neurons, interfered with locomotion, and increased activation of inflammatory microglia. The extract also decreased IL-10 in the hippocampus and BDNF gene expression. At the concentration and frequency used, B. caapi extract promotes noradrenergic neuron depletion and creates a proinflammatory environment in the central nervous system.
Frontiers in Pharmacology
March 16, 2026
Alessandra Linardi, Ariadiny Lima Caetano, Rodrigo Portes Ureshino
Scientific interest in psychedelic substances has revived, offering new perspectives on treating neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. Psychedelics induce neuroplasticity and alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. A review of six abused recreational drugs—methamphetamine, cocaine, synthetic cathinones, ketamine, nitrous oxide, and heroin—shows they share convergent neurotoxic mechanisms involving oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, excitotoxicity, and neuroinflammation. Original research demonstrates that social hierarchy modulates methamphetamine reinforcement in rats and is associated with distinct phosphoproteomic signatures in the nucleus accumbens, with HDAC4 phosphorylation differing between dominant and subordinate rats. A mini-review discusses trace amine-associated receptors, particularly TAAR1, as potential therapeutic targets for anxiety and depression.