The psychedelic phenethylamine 25C-NBF, a selective 5-HT2A agonist, shows psychoplastogenic properties and rapid antidepressant effects in male rodents

Three novel phenethylamine derivatives—25C-NBF, 25B-NBF, and 25I-NBF—show high affinity and selectivity for the 5-HT2A receptor, with signaling bias toward Gq over β-arrestin pathways similar to serotonin. In mice, they cause moderate head-twitch responses without affecting movement or sensorimotor gating. No rewarding or reinforcing effects were observed, and accumbal dopamine levels in rats remained unchanged. 25C-NBF promotes dendritogenesis, spinogenesis, and increased Bdnf mRNA in vitro and in vivo, reduces despair-like behavior after acute stress, and produces rapid antidepressant effects in a chronic corticosterone model of anhedonia. These findings suggest 25C-NBF may offer a fast-acting antidepressant with no abuse potential or sensorimotor deficits.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Psychedelics have garnered significant interest for their therapeutic potential in mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. While research has primarily focused on well-studied psychedelics, phenethylamine derivatives have also gathered interest for their potential therapeutic applications. Thus, this study aims to investigate the pharmacological profile, safety and therapeutic potential of novel N-(2-fluorobenzyl) phenethylamine analogs (NBFs) of the 2C-X series—25C-NBF, 25B-NBF, and 25I-NBF. NBFs displayed high affinity and selectivity for the 5-HT2A receptor and demonstrated bias factors (defined in our study as the preference for Gq over β-arrestin pathways at 5-HT2A receptor) similar to that of 5-HT. Acute administration induced moderate head-twitch responses without affecting locomotion or pre-pulse inhibition. Our studies revealed no rewarding effects in mice nor reinforcing effects or changes in accumbal dopamine levels in rats after NBFs administration. Further characterization of 25C-NBF revealed psychoplastogenic effects (dendritogenesis, spinogenesis and increased Bdnf mRNA levels) both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, 25C-NBF reduced despair-like behavior in response to acute stress and exerted rapid antidepressant effects in a model of anhedonia-like behavior induced by chronic corticosterone administration. Taken together, these findings suggest that 25C-NBF, and further analogs, may hold potential as novel antidepressants with a rapid onset of action and a favorable safety profile in terms of no abuse potential or sensorimotor gating deficits.