OPEN Foundation

B. Cohen

Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial

December 1, 2016 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, Depression, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Publications / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes.

Ross, S., Bossis, A., Guss, J., Agin-Liebes, G., Malone, T., Cohen, B., … & Su, Z. (2016). Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1165-1180. 10.1177/0269881116675513
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Lack of effect of sublingual salvinorin A, a naturally occurring kappa opioid, in humans: a placebo-controlled trial

December 8, 2010 / Other subjects, Papers, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Salvia / Salvinorin A / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Rationale: Salvinorin A (SA) is a highly selective kappa opioid receptor agonist and the putative psychoactive compound in Salvia divinorum (SD), an increasingly abused hallucinogenic plant.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to characterize the physiological and subjective effects of SA versus placebo and measure drug and metabolite levels.

Methods: Sublingual SA doses up to 4 mg were administered in dimethyl sulfoxide/polyethylene glycol 400 solution to eight SD-experienced subjects using a placebo-controlled ascending-dose design.

Results: No dose of SA produced significantly greater physiological or subjective effects than placebo. Furthermore, effects did not resemble reported “typical” effects of smoked SD. SA was detectable in plasma and urine, but was, in most cases, below the reliable limit of quantification (0.5 ng/mL).

Cconclusions: Our results suggest that the sublingual bioavailability of SA is low. Higher doses, alternate formulations, or alternate routes of administration will be necessary to study the effects of SA in humans.

Mendelson, J. E., Coyle, J. R., Lopez, J.C., Baggott, M. J., Flower, K., Everhart, E. T., … Cohen, B. M. (2010). Lack of effect of sublingual salvinorin A, a naturally occurring kappa opioid, in humans: a placebo-controlled trial. Psychopharmacology, 214(4), 933-939. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2103-5
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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