Maternal and developmental toxicity of the hallucinogenic plant-based beverage ayahuasca in rats
Reproductive Toxicology March 6, 2018 Luciana Gueiros Da Motta, Juliana Alves de Morais, Ana Carolina A.m. Tavares et al. 27 citations
Ayahuasca, when given orally to pregnant rats from gestation days 6 to 20 at doses one to eight times the average human ritual dose, caused maternal death and kidney injury at higher doses. Surviving rats at the highest dose showed neuronal loss in the hippocampus and raphe nuclei, and those at twice the human dose showed neuronal loss in the CA1 region. The highest dose also delayed intrauterine growth, increased embryo deaths, and raised the occurrence of fetal anomalies. At non-lethal doses, ayahuasca increased embryo deaths and the incidence of fetal soft-tissue and skeleton anomalies. The findings suggest ayahuasca is developmentally toxic and that daily use during pregnancy may pose risks to the developing offspring.