Natural psychedelics in the treatment of depression; a review focusing on neurotransmitters.
Samane Jahanabadi, Shayan Amiri, Mehdi Karkeh-Abadi, Ali Razmi
Fitoterapia September 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2023.105620 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractNatural psychedelic compounds like psilocybin and DMT show promise as novel treatments for depression. This review explains how these substances produce therapeutic effects by interacting with various neurotransmission systems in the brain. It covers current antidepressant strategies and explores the unique mechanisms of natural psychedelics, including DMT, mescaline, ibogaine, and compounds from Amanita mushrooms. The authors describe how these agents may offer alternatives to conventional antidepressants by targeting different neural pathways.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Depression DMT Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Natural psychedelics Neurotransmission system |
| Citations | 14 |
| Key finding | Natural psychedelics exert neurobiological therapeutic effects through multiple neurotransmission systems, offering novel mechanisms for treating depression. |
Abstract
Natural psychedelic compounds are emerging as potential novel therapeutics in psychiatry. This review will discuss how natural psychedelics exert their neurobiological therapeutic effects, and how different neurotransmission systems mediate the effects of these compounds. Further, current therapeutic strategies for depression, and novel mechanism of action of natural psychedelics in the treatment of depression will be discussed. In this review, our focus will be on N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), reversible type A monoamine oxidase inhibitors, mescaline-containing cacti, psilocybin/psilocin-containing mushrooms, ibogaine, muscimol extracted from Amanita spp. mushrooms and ibotenic acid.