Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. Electronic address: alexandre.giusti@ufsc.br.
2 papers in the library · 14 citations · publishing 2023-2024
Synthetic psychedelics 25H-NBOMe and 25H-NBOH, which act on serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, reduced depressive-like behavior in male adult rats. In the forced swimming test, both substances produced significantly greater motivation to escape compared to controls, suggesting antidepressant properties. All doses (0.1, 1, and 3 mg/kg) caused hallucinogenic effects as measured by head twitch responses. Locomotor activity in the open field test was unaffected except at the highest dose (3 mg/kg), which reduced movement. These findings indicate that a single dose of these compounds may have antidepressant potential, contributing to psychedelic research for psychiatric treatments.
In a rat model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy, the psychedelic phenethylamine 25H-NBOMe reduced depressive-like behaviors and signs of neuroinflammation. Rats that underwent cecal ligation and puncture surgery to induce sepsis showed decreased immobility and increased swimming times in the forced swim test after treatment, indicating fewer depressive symptoms. The compound also increased head-twitch responses, confirming its psychoactive effects, and lowered GFAP expression in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting reduced astrogliosis. The findings indicate that 25H-NBOMe can alleviate post-sepsis depression and neuroinflammation, but its psychedelic properties warrant investigation of similar compounds with fewer psychoactive effects.