Acute Effects of Psilocybin After Escitalopram or Placebo Pretreatment in a Randomized, Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled, Crossover Study in Healthy Subjects
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics November 7, 2021 A. Becker, Friederike Holze, Tanja Grandinetti et al. 177 citations
In healthy volunteers, taking the antidepressant escitalopram for two weeks before a 25 mg dose of psilocybin did not reduce the positive mood effects of the psychedelic, but it significantly lessened bad drug effects, anxiety, adverse cardiovascular effects, and other adverse effects compared to placebo pretreatment. Escitalopram did not alter psilocin's pharmacokinetics; the half-life of free psilocin was 1.8 hours. It also did not change HTR2A or SCL6A4 gene expression, QTc intervals, or BDNF levels. Longer antidepressant pretreatment and studies in patients are needed to further define interactions between antidepressants and psilocybin.