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Efficacy, tolerability, and safety of serotonergic psychedelics for the management of mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

Expert review of clinical pharmacology
September 1, 2018
Rafael G Dos Santos et al. (4 authors)
Journal ArticleReviewSystematic ReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of ayahuasca and other serotonergic hallucinogens in treating mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders.

Results Summary

Ayahuasca reduced depression symptoms in treatment-resistant depression, but most studies had small sample sizes, short durations, and few randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The results were promising but require further validation with larger, longer-term RCTs.

Population

Patients with treatment-resistant depression, cancer-related anxiety/depression, and alcohol/tobacco dependence.

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Short-term (exact duration not specified)

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (4)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
serotonergic hallucinogens/psychedelics including ayahuasca, psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
decrease
anxiety, depression, and substance dependence
-
-
have anxiolytic, antidepressive, and antiaddictive effects
#1
Psilocybin and LSD
decrease
anxiety and depression
cancer patients
-
reduced anxiety and depression
#2
Psilocybin and LSD
decrease
symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence
-
-
reduced symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence
#3
ayahuasca
decrease
depression symptoms
treatment-resistant depression
-
reduced depression symptoms
#4
Abstract

Mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the population. Although several pharmacological treatments are available, they are not effective for a significant proportion of patients and are associated with several adverse reactions. Therefore, new treatments should be explored. Recent studies suggest that serotonergic hallucinogens/psychedelics including ayahuasca, psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have anxiolytic, antidepressive, and antiaddictive effects. Areas Covered: A systematic review of systematic reviews assessing the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of serotonergic hallucinogens/psychedelic was performed using the PubMed data base until 11 April 2018. Systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis were analyzed, but only reviews that described at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT) were included. Expert Commentary: Psilocybin and LSD reduced anxiety and depression in cancer patients and symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence, and ayahuasca reduced depression symptoms in treatment-resistant depression. Although the results are promising, several studies were open label, and only few were RCTs, and most had small sample sizes and a short duration. Single or few doses of these drugs seem to be well tolerated, but long-term studies are lacking. New RCTs with bigger samples and longer duration are needed to replicate these findings.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Anxiety DisordersBanisteriopsisDepressive DisorderHallucinogensHumansLysergic Acid DiethylamidePsilocybinRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSerotonin AgentsSubstance-Related Disorders
Study Links
Quality Scores
Safety70
Efficacy75/10
Quality65/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations131
Citations/Year18.7
Relative Citation Ratio7.56
NIH Percentile96.5%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.95
Weight Score1.07
Normalized Score0.71
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