Uruguay focuses on psilocybin trials to treat severe depression.
Montevideo, May 16 (EFE)
Uruguay is once again at the forefront of drug policy in Latin America by focusing on the start of clinical trials for the treatment of severe depression through the use of psilocybin, a natural psychedelic found in more than one hundred species of mushrooms.
In 2023, the Ministry of Public Health, through the National Ethics Commission for Research, granted authorization for the start of the clinical phase of studies that will be focused on cancer patients.
Ismael Apud, a member of the Arché Interdisciplinary Center for Psychedelic Studies, explained to the EFE news agency that the group will carry out this research once it obtains the necessary funding for its development, something that its leaders hope to achieve this year.
A major first step for clinical research
In a country like Uruguay, which has promoted various policies related to drug rights and regulation in recent decades, Apud says that moving towards the clinical phase of this project represents “a first big step” for this treatment, which he insists on defining as “psychedelic-assisted therapy”.
“It’s not just the psychedelic itself, but what’s called the ‘set,’ the substance, and the ‘setting,’ which is the context and, in English, the person’s ‘mindset.’ All of that influences the use of the psychedelic and the resulting experience,” he points out.
The adjunct professor of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of the Republic also states that psilocybin is the substance that currently has the “most advanced studies” internationally in the field of “classic serotonergic psychedelics” for the treatment of depression, anxiety and even addictions, a fact that also motivated the start of these studies in the country.
Psilocybin and brain plasticity
One of the main questions that arise with this type of treatment points to the results and the possible benefits that patients could obtain through its use.
Psychiatrist Frank Lozano Jara explains that among the “speculations” about the biological effects of psilocybin on the brain is “the possibility of a change” in the way it connects, something linked to the current paradigm of brain plasticity.
“The point is that we’re looking for interventions that generate brain plasticity. And that’s more or less how we’re understanding the new technologies that have effects on this part of the brain. Psychedelics are no exception. We interpret them in that light and look for evidence of neuronal plasticity,” he explains.
Jara points out that some findings in animal models may indicate an increased capacity for brain connectivity. She adds that studies in which humans undergo neuroimaging tests, such as MRI, show “certain functional changes” that could correlate with the psychedelic experience.
However, the doctor, a graduate of the Central University of Ecuador, makes it clear that the number of humans who have been studied using neuroimaging “is still very small,” while emphasizing that psilocybin and its therapeutic use have not yet been approved for the treatment of any mental disorder, so the certainty that exists to make recommendations based on this evidence “is low or very low.”
Jara doesn’t hesitate to urge both people with severe depression and their families to “steadfastly maintain” their hopes in the research and studies. “It’s to help them, have patience,” she concludes. EFE
