Modulation of Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor by a Single Dose of Ayahuasca: Observation From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Raíssa Nóbrega de Almeida¹  Ana Cecília de Menezes Galvão¹  Flávia Santos da Silva¹  Erick Allan dos Santos Silva¹  Fernanda Palhano-Fontes³  João Paulo Maia-de-Oliveira³  Lobão-Soares Barros de Araújo³  Bruno Lobão-Soares⁵  Nicole Leite Galvão-Coelho¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Hormone Measurement, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte;Postgraduate Program in Psychobiology, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte;Onofre Lopes University Hospital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte;Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte;National Science and Technology Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM);Department of Clinical Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte;Department of Biophysics and Pharmacology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

关键词: ayahuasca;    antidepressant;    BDNF;    biomarker;    cortisol;    depression;    psychedelics;    treatment-resistant;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01234

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Serotonergic psychedelics are emerging as potential antidepressant therapeutic tools, as suggested in a recent randomized controlled trial with ayahuasca for treatment-resistant depression. Preclinical and clinical studies have suggested that serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels increase after treatment with serotoninergic antidepressants, but the exact role of BDNF as a biomarker for diagnostic and treatment of major depression is still poorly understood. Here we investigated serum BDNF levels in healthy controls ( N = 45) and patients with treatment-resistant depression ( N = 28) before (baseline) and 48 h after (D2) a single dose of ayahuasca or placebo. In our sample, baseline serum BDNF levels did not predict major depression and the clinical characteristics of the patients did not predict their BDNF levels. However, at baseline, serum cortisol was a predictor of serum BDNF levels, where lower levels of serum BDNF were detected in a subgroup of subjects with hypocortisolemia. Moreover, at baseline we found a negative correlation between BDNF and serum cortisol in volunteers with eucortisolemia. After treatment (D2) we observed higher BDNF levels in both patients and controls that ingested ayahuasca ( N = 35) when compared to placebo ( N = 34). Furthermore, at D2 just patients treated with ayahuasca ( N = 14), and not with placebo ( N = 14), presented a significant negative correlation between serum BDNF levels and depressive symptoms. This is the first double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial that explored the modulation of BDNF in response to a psychedelic in patients with depression. The results suggest a potential link between the observed antidepressant effects of ayahuasca and changes in serum BDNF, which contributes to the emerging view of using psychedelics as an antidepressant. This trial is registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov ( {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT02914769","term_id":"NCT02914769"}} NCT02914769 ).

【 授权许可】

CC BY