WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Sonoran Desert toad, also known as the Colorado River toad or bufo toad, is a species that secretes venom containing a psychedelic compound called 5-MeO-DMT, which has been shown to have therapeutic potential.
Recent research titled 'Structural pharmacology and therapeutic potential of 5-methoxytryptamines' conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has revealed how psychedelic drugs interact with serotonin receptors in the brain and their potential to treat conditions like depression and anxiety.
This study highlights that the venom of the Colorado River toad could lead to a new type of antidepressant due to its similarities with dimethyltryptamine (DMT) found in 'magic mushrooms.'
Notably, substances like 5-MeO-DMT from the Colorado River toad activate serotonin receptors such as 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A, with the latter being a validated therapeutic target for treating depression and anxiety. Researchers have been focusing on the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor as a potentially important player in the effects of psychedelics.
By modifying the toad venom to target these receptors specifically, researchers observed antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects in stressed and depressed mice without inducing hallucinations. The team tailored the toad venom through chemical modifications to exclusively target the 5-HT1A serotonin receptors and tested it on mice displaying signs of stress and depression. The results indicated that the toad venom compound produced comparable antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects in the mice without inducing a high or hallucinations.
Audrey Warren, a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Icahn Mount Sinai and the study's lead author, mentioned that 'Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin have progressed to clinical trials with promising initial outcomes, though the specific molecular targets in the brain that drive their therapeutic effects remain unclear.'
The study proposes that compounds targeting the 5-HT1A receptor could open up new avenues for treating depression, but further research is needed to determine its effectiveness in humans.
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