Could hallucinogenic ayahuasca tea be used to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases?
Researchers at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) are on the way to answering that question. Their new study found that dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the psycho-active ingredient in ayahuasca, promotes the formation of new brain cells, particularly in neurons as well as glial cells.
Recently published in Translational Psychiatry, their findings come from four years of observation on mice fortified with DMT, who showed “a greater cognitive capacity when treated with this substance,” said José Antonio López, psychology researcher at UCM.
The degradation and death of neurons is what leads to symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as cognitive decline, physical instability and deregulated moods. To prevent brain cell death is to stave off such diseases. And while it is possible to generate new neurons throughout life, scientists have yet to discover a rapid, effective means.
“The challenge is to activate our dormant capacity to form neurons and thus replace the neurons that die as a result of the disease. This study shows that DMT is capable of activating neural stem cells and forming new neurons”, said López’s co-author José Ángel Morales.
Two Amazonian plant species, the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the chacruna shrub (Psychotria viridis), combine to create ayahuasca tea, the latter of which packs the DMT. But before scientists can entertain the idea of using DMT as a therapeutic or preventative medicine, they had to determine how to turn off those hallucinatory effects.
Users say the drug induces an “out-of-body” experience, an altered perception of time, audio and visual hallucinations and intense euphoria. It can also prompt vomiting and diarrhea, anxiety, rapid heart rate and increased blood pressure, according to American Addiction Centers.
DMT takes hold by binding to serotonin receptors in the brain, but researchers were able to shift over to another type of receptor that would not prompt hallucinations, thus “greatly facilitating its future administration to patients.”
“This capacity to modulate brain plasticity suggests that it has great therapeutic potential for a wide range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases,” said Morales.
Its potential for treating dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases is just one category of many illnesses doctors hope could be helped with the ancient medicine, prescribed by shamans for millennia. More recently, it has been used in studies as a potential treatment for eating disorders, PTSD, addiction and depression.
At the same time, ayahuasca isn’t without risks, especially when used by those outside of a controlled setting. In 2018, a British teen traveled to the Amazon to partake in shamanic ritual ceremony involving ayahuasca. His trip ended in tragedy after the 19-year-old, with no pre-existing medical conditions, died of accidental intoxification, according to a coroner’s report.