OPEN Foundation

Day: 14 July 2015

Ketamine induces anxiolytic effects in adult zebrafish: A multivariate statistics approach.

July 14, 2015 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, Ketamine, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Publications / By / , ,

Abstract

Ketamine inappropriate use has been associated with serious consequences for human health. Anesthetic properties of ketamine are well-known but its side effects are poorly described, including the effects on anxiety. In this context, animal models are a safe way to conduct this neurobehavioral research and zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an interesting model which has several advantages. The validation and interpretation of results of behavioral assays requires a suitable statistical approach and the use of multivariate statistical methods has been little explored, especially in zebrafish behavioral models. Here, we investigated the anxiolytic-induced effects of ketamine in adult zebrafish, using Light-Dark Test and Multivariate Statistics methods (PCA, HCA and SIMCA). In addition, we compared the processing of data to the one carried out by analysis of variance (ANOVA) Ketamine produced significant concentration of exposure-dependent anxiolytic effects, increasing time in white area and number of crossings and decreasing latency to first access to white area. Average entry duration behavior resulted in a slight decrease from control to treatment groups, with an observed concentration-dependent increase among the exposed groups. PCA results indicated that two principal components represent 88.74% of all the system information. HCA and PCA results showed a higher similarity among control and treatment groups exposed to lower concentrations of ketamine and among treatment groups exposed to concentrations of 40 and 60 mg.L-1. In SIMCA results, interclasses distances were concentration of exposure-dependent increased and misclassifications and interclasses residues results also support these findings. These findings confirm the anxiolytic potential of ketamine and zebrafish sensibility to this drug. In summary, our study confirms that zebrafish and multivariate statistics data validation is an appropriate and viable behavioral model for the study of psychoactive substances, providing a detailed and reliable analysis.

De Campos, E. G., Bruni, A. T., & De Martinis, B. S. (2015). Ketamine induces anxiolytic effects in adult zebrafish: A multivariate statistics approach. Behavioural Brain Research.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2015.07.017
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‘Whatever you want to believe’ kaleidoscopic individualism and ayahuasca healing in Australia

July 14, 2015 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Ethnobotany, Papers, Personal development, Psychology, Publications, Spirituality / By /

Abstract

Over the last fifteen years the use of the indigenous Amazonian psychoactive beverage ayahuasca has been reimagined in alternative healing circles of Western countries. This paper explores the practice of ayahuasca neoshamanism in Australia and examines ways in which acts of vomiting and ecstatic trance-visions involve heightened affective states and moral projects of healing. Aspects of everyday life are purged, rearticulated, and reconstituted in rituals where codes of conduct and discursive exchange encourage practices of personal evaluation and reflexivity that appear to index ideologies of individualism. Through exploring social and discursive prohibitions and forms of sensory organisation, the practice of drinking ayahuasca in Australia is shown to be constituted by ritual conventions that define the individual as autonomous and responsible in relation to ecstatic trance and articulations of wellbeing.

Gearin, A. K. (2015). ‘Whatever you want to believe’kaleidoscopic individualism and ayahuasca healing in Australia. The Australian Journal of Anthropology. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/taja.12143
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Psychedelics and Immunomodulation: Novel Approaches and Therapeutic Opportunities

July 14, 2015 / DMT, LSD, MDMA, Medicine, Neuroscience, Other substances, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications / By /

Abstract

Classical psychedelics are psychoactive substances, which, besides their psychopharmacological activity, have also been shown to exert significant modulatory effects on immune responses by altering signaling pathways involved in inflammation, cellular proliferation, and cell survival via activating NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinases. Recently, several neurotransmitter receptors involved in the pharmacology of psychedelics, such as serotonin and sigma-1 receptors, have also been shown to play crucial roles in numerous immunological processes. This emerging field also offers promising treatment modalities in the therapy of various diseases including autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions, infections, and cancer. However, the scarcity of available review literature renders the topic unclear and obscure, mostly posing psychedelics as illicit drugs of abuse and not as physiologically relevant molecules or as possible agents of future pharmacotherapies. In this paper, the immunomodulatory potential of classical serotonergic psychedelics, including N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine will be discussed from a perspective of molecular immunology and pharmacology. Special attention will be given to the functional interaction of serotonin and sigma-1 receptors and their cross-talk with toll-like and RIG-I-like pattern-recognition receptor-mediated signaling. Furthermore, novel approaches will be suggested feasible for the treatment of diseases with chronic inflammatory etiology and pathology, such as atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Szabo, A. Psychedelics and immunomodulation: Novel approaches and therapeutic opportunities. Frontiers in Immunology, 0. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00358
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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