Effects of the hallucinogenic beverage ayahuasca on voluntary ethanol intake by rats and on cFos expression in brain areas relevant to drug addiction
Alcohol November 4, 2019 Luciana Marangni Nolli, Danilo Gustavo Rodrigues de Oliveira, Stefany Sousa Alves et al. 28 citations
Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic infusion used in religious rituals with serotoninergic properties, did not reduce ethanol intake in Wistar rats that had intermittent access to ethanol for 8 weeks when given at 0.5x, 1x, or 2x the ritual dose over the final 5 days. Naltrexone (2 mg/kg) modestly reduced intake compared to controls. Ethanol increased cFos expression in several brain regions, including the medial orbital cortex, ventral orbital cortex, lateral orbital cortex, and nucleus accumbens. Both naltrexone and the lowest ayahuasca dose decreased cFos in the medial orbital cortex relative to controls, but only ayahuasca brought expression to levels similar to a naïve group. Further studies are needed to clarify ayahuasca's effects on alcohol intake and its neural mechanisms.