Rapid Effects of MDMA Administration on Self-Reported Personality Traits and Affect State: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Healthy Adults.

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) assisted therapy has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for PTSD and emerging research suggests a change in personality traits may be a factor in treatment response. Most prior research on MDMA and personality has focused on cross-sectional comparisons of MDMA users and non-users; as such, well-controlled research assessing personality and affective states following MDMA vs placebo administration is needed. In the current pre-registered study, we investigated the impact of MDMA administration on five-factor model (FFM) traits and affective states before and 48 h after drug administration in a randomized, placebo-controlled study of healthy adults ( = 34).

Perceived Conjunctival Foreign Material Egress in Morgellons Disease: A Case Study.

The purpose of this report is to present a case of a 63-year-old man with orbital Morgellons disease. A 63-year-old man presented reporting 15 years of daily egress of different foreign bodies apparently found in the superior fornices of both eyes, exhibiting a classic manifestation known as the matchbox sign. He described the symptoms starting after a facial trauma.

A randomized controlled trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and fear extinction retention in healthy adults.

Background: Fear conditioning and extinction are well-characterized cross-species models of fear-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and recent animal data suggest that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) enhances fear extinction retention.

Aims: This study investigated the effect of MDMA on fear learning, extinction training, and retention in healthy humans.

Methods: The study involved a randomized placebo-controlled, two-group, parallel design trial in a sample of healthy adults, age 21-55 recruited from a major metropolitan area.

Psychedelics and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy.

(Reprinted with permission from 2020; 177:391-410).

Psychedelics and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy.

Objective: The authors provide an evidenced-based summary of the literature on the clinical application of psychedelic drugs in psychiatric disorders.

Methods: Searches of PubMed and PsycINFO via Ovid were conducted for articles in English, in peer-reviewed journals, reporting on "psilocybin," "lysergic acid diethylamide," "LSD," "ayahuasca," "-methylenedioxymethamphetamine," and "MDMA," in human subjects, published between 2007 and July 1, 2019. A total of 1,603 articles were identified and screened.

Brain mechanisms of stress and depression in coronary artery disease.

Introduction: Major depression is associated with an increased risk for and mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD), however the mechanisms by which this occurs are not clear. Depression, which is linked to stress, is associated with changes in brain areas involved in memory and the stress response, and it is likely that these regions play an important role in this increased risk. This study assessed the effects of stress on brain and cardiac function in patients with CAD with and without depression.

Brain correlates of stress-induced peripheral vasoconstriction in patients with cardiovascular disease.

The influence of acute psychological stress on cardiovascular disease is an emerging public health concern. Identification of brain mechanisms underlying this may aid in the discovery of possible treatments. Acute psychological stress may induce arteriolar vasoconstriction and reduce blood flow to vital organs.

Blood pressure safety of subanesthetic ketamine for depression: A report on 684 infusions.

Background: The dissociative anesthetic agent ketamine is increasingly being utilized to treat depression, despite not having FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval for this indication. There are many questions about the potential risks of this treatment and hence the proper setting and degree of monitoring required to ensure patient safety. There is limited data about the cardiovascular safety of ketamine when administered at subanesthetic doses to treat depression.

A Pilot Study of the Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Brain Response to Traumatic Reminders of Combat in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Objective: Brain imaging studies in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have implicated a circuitry of brain regions including the medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, parietal cortex, and insula. Pharmacological treatment studies have shown a reversal of medial prefrontal deficits in response to traumatic reminders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a promising non-pharmacologic approach to the treatment of anxiety and pain disorders.

Inhibition of serotonin transporters disrupts the enhancement of fear memory extinction by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Rationale: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) persistently improves symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when combined with psychotherapy. Studies in rodents suggest that these effects can be attributed to enhancement of fear memory extinction. Therefore, MDMA may improve the effects of exposure-based therapy for PTSD, particularly in treatment-resistant patients.

Synthesis, characterization and in vivo efficacy of PEGylated insulin for oral delivery with complexation hydrogels.

Purpose: This work evaluated the feasibility of combining insulin PEGylation with pH responsive hydrogels for oral insulin delivery.

Methods: A mono-substituted PEG-insulin conjugate was synthesized and purified. The site of conjugation was determined by MALDI-TOF MS.