Research library / Systematic review

Antidepressive and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca: a systematic literature review of animal and human studies

Dos Santos RG, Osório FL, Crippa JA, et al. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 2016;38(1):65-72

This review gathered published animal and human research, up to April 2015, on whether ayahuasca or its main plant alkaloids reduce anxiety or depression. From 514 records, 21 studies qualified. Animal experiments pointed to anxiety-reducing and antidepressant-like effects of the brew and of harmine and harmaline. In people, the evidence came mainly from experimental sessions with volunteers and from mental health assessments of long-term ritual users, which suggested lower anxiety and depression scores. Only one study had treated patients: a small pilot of six people with recurrent depression who improved quickly after one dose. The authors conclude the effects deserve further study. The review is useful as a map of early evidence, but it cannot show that ayahuasca treats depression, since almost none of the underlying work was controlled clinical research.