Researchers Develop an LSD Analogue with Potential for Treating Schizophrenia

promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.

The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights the new drug’s potential as a treatment option for conditions like schizophrenia, where psychedelics are not prescribed for safety reasons. The compound also may be useful for treating other neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases characterized by synaptic loss and brain atrophy.

Psychedelics and Non-hallucinogenic Analogs Work Through the Same Receptor, Up to a Point

nderstanding exactly how psychedelics promote new connections in the brain is critical to developing targeted, non-hallucinogenic therapeutics that can treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. To achieve this, researchers are mapping the biochemical pathways involved in both neuroplasticity and hallucinations.  

UC Davis Researchers Achieve Total Synthesis of Ibogaine, Creating Opportunities to Study Its Therapeutic Properties

Ibogaine — a psychoactive natural product — has attracted attention for its anti-addictive and anti-depressant properties. But ibogaine is a finite resource, extracted from plant materials like the iboga shrub (Tabernanthe iboga) and the small-fruited voacanga tree (Voacanga africana). Further, its use can lead to irregular heartbeats, introducing safety risks and an overall need to better understand how its molecular structure leads to its biological effects.

Exploring the Psychedelics Within Us

Our bodies are pharmaceutical factories. From the hormones that regulate our blood sugar to the neurotransmitters that act as the body’s natural painkillers, these endogenous — produced within the body — chemicals ensure our functionality and survival.

But did you know that our bodies also naturally produce psychedelics?

In the 1950s, researchers found chemical signatures of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in mammalian bodies, including in humans.

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Receptor Location Matters for Psychedelic Drug Effects

 

Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells. In a paper published Feb. 17 in Science, researchers at the University of California, Davis, show that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not.

$2.7M Grant to UC Davis to Find New Addiction Treatments Related to Psychedelics

 

Evidence from human and animal testing suggests the brain-altering effects of psychedelics could be repurposed for treating addiction.

Now, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus plan to screen hundreds of compounds to discover new, nonhallucinogenic treatments for substance use disorders. The research is funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.