A single dose of a synthetic version of psilocybin, the mind-altering ingredient in magic mushrooms, reverses depression in people with treatment-resistant illness, a new study finds.
A randomized, double-blind clinical trial, described by the authors as “the largest of its kind,” compared results of a 25 mg dose of synthetic psilocybin COMP360 with 10 and 1 mg doses. It was in the presence of a trained therapist.
The results of the study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found an “immediate, rapid, fast-acting, sustained response to 25 milligrams [of COMP360],” according to study collaborators. Author: Guy Goodwin, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK.
Chief medical officer Guy Goodwin of COMPASS Pathways, the company that manufactures COMP360 and conducted the study, who is the expert in the field found the study findings promising, said:
“This drug can be extracted from magic mushrooms, but that is not the way our compound is generated. It’s synthesized in a purely chemical process to produce a crystalline form.”
“They clearly found a dose effect and clinically meaningful improvement in just three weeks,” said Dr. Matthew Johnson, a professor in psychedelics and consciousness at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. He was not involved in the new study.
Johnson, who coauthored safety guidelines for psychedelic research in 2008, stated:
“If you were in the 25-milligram group, you were nearly three times as likely to respond than if you were in the 1-milligram group.”
The rapid response to treatment was notable as well.
But there are some issues that need further investigation before the drug can be used clinically, experts say.
This clinical trial was conducted at 22 locations in his 7 countries in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. This study was designed to test the safety of different doses of a proprietary version of psilocybin.
233 study participants had treatment-resistant depression, which can only be diagnosed if they do not respond to two courses of antidepressants. Studies have found that 3 million patients are treatment-resistant. About 100 million people worldwide suffer from treatment-resistant depression, Goodwin said.
Depression levels were recorded the day after travel and five more times over a 12-week period. About 37% of those who took the 25-milligram dose showed improvement. , the beneficial effects on depressive symptoms were attenuated and did not reach statistically significant levels, the study found.
Headache, nausea, fatigue and dizziness afflicted 77% of study participants and occurred at all dose levels. Experts say it’s a typical reaction to a day of psilocybin administration.
The study found that a small number of people in all three dose groups had suicidal thoughts or had injuries during the 12-week follow-up period. suicidal and two intentionally injured. Two people in the 10-mg group had suicidal thoughts, one self-harmed, and one was hospitalized for major depression, the study reported.
These behaviors are “common in studies of treatment-resistant depression, with most cases occurring more than a week after a COMP360 psilocybin session,” the company said.
Although the results of the study are promising, many questions remain and we don’t know if the drug works for different types of depression. McConway was not involved in the study.
McConway, noting that as a next step for follow-up trials said, “They can’t tell us how effective this psilocybin plus therapy treatment is in comparison with other existing drug or non-drug treatments for depression.”
Previous Post
Rewind and watch again everything you do, say, and see on your Mac through Rewind AI app
Leave a Comment