According to a recent article on Medical News Today, a study performed by Charles Nichols, pharmacologist at LSU Health Sciences Center, has concluded in the use of LSD as a very potent anti-inflammatory. The research was directed toward TNF-alpha, a potent pro-inflammatory adipokine. The researchers found that when serotonin 5-HT2A receptor proteins were activated, the receptor proteins impressively blocked TNF-alpha induced inflammatory responses. But how did these researches activate serotonin 5-HT2A? With the use of a drug belonging to the LSD family, of course! The researchers found that when TNF-alpha was injected into mice after serotonin 5-HT2A receptors were activated, there was a near complete inhibition of inflammation in comparison to mice whose receptors were not activated and had a full inflammatory response. Interestingly and most relevant to the topic of the past two weeks, the tissue that this procedure had the most powerful effect on was intestinal tissue, and doses of less than 300 times lower than what is required to illicit any behavioral effects of the drug were found to induce this powerful anti-inflammatory effect!
Although extremely interesting, LSD is a serious hallucinogenic drug with severe side effects, and although this study makes it a point to establish that only very minute doses are needed to illicit an anti-inflammatory response, they fail to mention whether or not the mice developed any side-effects from the drug. I think that a good follow up study would be to study any side effects that occur after administering the small doses of this drug over a long period of time to mice. Even in low doses, I am convinced that over a long treatment period, mice would eventually develop some sort of side effect because of the LSD families very potent abilities to cause severe mental abnormalities. Also, the drugs belonging to this family are severely addictive, it would be nice to see a follow up study done on how these mice react once the drug isn't going through their bodies. What are your thoughts and opinions?
1.) Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. "Target discovered for new Rx class for inflammatory disorders." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 7 Oct. 2013. Web.
25 Oct. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/267019>
Despite the obvious risks involved in using drugs such as LSD for anti-inflammatory medicinal purposes, it is indeed fascinating that someone is thinking about such possibilities and willing to undertake the challenge. It is, after all, the one with the seemingly crazy idea now that could potentially open the door to much broader findings. Unfortunately, all-too-often, illicit (recreational) drugs that can reduce the effects of one disorder can bring with them a whole new plethora of complications. But we wouldn't call it research if we always got it right the first time!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting study! I also agree that there definitely needs to be more research into the possible side effects and long term effects of this type of treatment, as this study is still only using mice models. I wonder if tolerance would become an issue, possibly causing the need for a higher dosage over time. Additionally, I would be interested in studying how a low dose of LSD affect a human patient taking other medications.
ReplyDeleteDid the researchers propose any ideas for why the intestinal tissue was affected the most? With the notorious psychological effects of LSD, I would have guessed that it would have a larger effect on brain tissue.
The researchers just mentioned that TNF-alpha plays a bigger role in the inflammatory response in intestinal tissue than anywhere else in the body. So I am assuming that because activation of serotonin-5HT2A inhibits the inflammatory response brought about by TNF-alpha, and TNF-alpha inflammatory response plays a bigger role in intestinal tissue, this is why the administration of LSD into mice had a bigger anti-inflammatory effect on intestinal tissue.
DeleteI don't think the psychological effects of the drug have to do with the anti-inflammatory effects of it, because it involves the inhibition of different molecules. The anti-inflammatory effect involves the inhibition of TNF-alpha, whereas the psychological effect involves an increase in the release of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which causes the mood effects. So essentially, as LSD is eliciting an anti-inflammatory effect, it is also eliciting a mood changing effect, which wasn't the purpose of the study and thus, wasn't noted in the research. It would be a good follow up study to include any observations on mood changes of the mice, in order to better the chance of having this study performed on humans.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this study is very interesting and there needs to be more research done on the possible side effects the mice could eventually develop from taking LSD to treat inflammatory disorders. I'm assuming the mice would develop long-term side effects such as depression, anxiety or psychosis. If LSD were found to be an effective miracle drug for inflammatory disorders, the possibilities would definitely need to be weighed out, especially if the mice do develop some of the serious side effects of LSD.
ReplyDeleteI would think that after further processing, of LSD for medical purposes would reduce the harmful effects.. This of course would be a long process! I would think the medically administered and monitored LSD would be different from the kind you find on the street. More "clean" with less added. It is highly addictive, so is the morphine a lot of IBS, UC and CD patients are taking! This would be an interesting topic to follow as research progresses. It would also be interesting to see the long term psychological effects associated with this sort of treatment.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure where you guys have gotten your information (1970's propaganda?), but LSD is non-addictive, non-toxic, and only potentially harmful to mental stability when taken in large doses (if they induce something akin to PTSD as a result of a really bad trip). If taken at sub-consciousness-altering doses, it would be less toxic, with less side effects, than low dose aspirin.
ReplyDeleteRight- thank you for bringing this up. Having taken extensive neuroscience coursework on drugs and the brain, I have never heard LSD described as addictive or otherwise habit-forming. If this is a claim you're standing by, it would be great to see an evidence-based reference. Cheers
ReplyDeleteCool stuff you've got got and you way replace every body. talking
ReplyDelete