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Home/Research/Ayahuasca/Substance Use Disorders (SUD)

Ayahuasca for Substance Use Disorders (SUD)

81 papers and 0 clinical trials exploring ayahuasca as a treatment for substance use disorders (sud).

Compoundclassic psychedelic

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is a botanical decoction combining DMT with MAO-inhibiting harmala alkaloids, producing intense psychedelic effects lasting 3-6 hours. Clinical trials show rapid, large antidepressant effects from a single dose, with a favourable safety profile in controlled settings.

Full Ayahuasca profile
IndicationAmong the world’s largest preventable health burdens

Substance Use Disorders (SUD)

Addiction is one of the oldest hopes for psychedelic medicine, going back to LSD trials for alcoholism in the 1950s. Today psilocybin is the workhorse, with positive trials in alcohol, tobacco and cocaine use disorders, and the cross-substance signal is real. But the picture is mixed rather than settled: a major alcohol trial was null, the studies are small, and almost all of them struggle to keep patients unaware of whether they got the drug. This page is the hub; alcohol, opioid and tobacco use disorders have their own dedicated pages.

Full Substance Use Disorders (SUD) profile

Academic Research

81 papers
Open Accessindividual

Meditation, psychedelics, and brain connectivity: A randomized controlled resting-state fMRI study of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and harmine in a meditation retreat

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled resting-state fMRI study of 40 meditation practitioners, buccal DMT–harmine increased functional connectivity within the visual network and between visual and attention/salience networks, whereas meditation with placebo produced greater network segregation. No prolonged disruption of cortical gradients was observed, indicating a return to typical brain organisation shortly after the experience and pointing to distinct neural mechanisms — and potential clinical complementarities — between meditation and psychedelic-augmented meditation.

Published
September 29, 2025
Journal
Imaging Neuroscience
Authors
Egger, K., Meling, D., Polat, F., Seifritz, E., Avram, M., Scheidegger, M.
Open Accessindividual

DMT and harmala alkaloids: an exploratory study of oral Acacia based formulations in healthy volunteers

In this open-label exploratory crossover study of nine experienced ayahuasca users, three Acacia‑derived oral formulations delivering DMT plus harmala alkaloids were well tolerated, produced no clinically significant physiological changes, and elicited psychedelic effects rated comparable to (and for ACL‑010 sometimes more beneficial than) traditional ayahuasca. These findings suggest Acacia‑based DMT/harmala formulations are a feasible alternative for future clinical trials, although generalisability is limited by the small sample size and open‑label design.

Published
August 15, 2025
Journal
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Authors
Bonomo, Y. A., Norman, A. F., Collins, L., Ross, M., Dwyer, J., Perkins, D., Sarris, J.
Open Accessindividual

Health-related behavioral changes following the use of psychedelics in naturalistic settings

This cross-sectional study (n=2,510) of US adults with psychedelic experience found that participants retrospectively reported widespread improvements in health behaviours including reduced alcohol (66%) and tobacco (49%) use, better dietary habits (49%), and decreased impulsivity (48-72%), with microdosers and frequent users showing greater positive changes.

Published
August 1, 2025
Journal
Preventative Medicine Reports
Authors
Teixeira, P. J., Jain, R., Penn, A. D., Cole, S. P., Jain, S., Moller, A. C., Amaro, H., Raison, C.
Open Accessindividual

Exploring the Therapeutic Effects of Psychedelics Administered to Military Veterans in Naturalistic Retreat Settings

Veterans attending naturalistic psilocybin or ayahuasca retreats showed significant improvements across eight mental‑health and reintegration measures, with the largest reductions in depression (PHQ‑9, 29.1%) and PTSD (PCL‑5, 26.1%). Psilocybin retreats produced greater gains on most outcomes while ayahuasca yielded slightly larger PTSD improvement; those with worse baseline symptoms benefited most, with some gender-specific differences.

Published
July 7, 2025
Journal
Brain and Behavior
Authors
Calnan, M., Blest-Hopley, G., Busch, C., Adams, M., Ruffell, S. G. D., Piper, T., Roseman, L., Kettner, H., Carhart-Harris, R.
Open Accessmeta

Insights on Psychedelics: A Systematic Review of Therapeutic Effects

This systematic review (s=98) examining psychedelic-catalysed insight found that 86% of studies showed insight was linked to therapeutic improvement, with insight being dose-dependent and significantly higher than placebo in 93% of comparative studies, suggesting insight may be a key mechanism in psychedelic therapy.

Published
March 22, 2025
Journal
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
Authors
Kugel, J., Laukkonen, R., Yaden, D. B., Yücel, M., Liknaitzky, P.
Open Accessindividual

Long-Term Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes Associated with Naturalistic Ayahuasca Consumption

This naturalistic longitudinal study (n=66) investigates the long-term effects of ayahuasca on mental health in adults with no prior exposure. Participants attending neo-shamanic ceremonies reported sustained improvements in depression, anxiety, stress, affect, personality traits, spirituality, and relationships up to 12 months. Individuals with depression or anxiety experienced lasting symptom reductions, while those without a diagnosis had short-term benefits. Alcohol and cannabis use decreased only at one month. Findings suggest ayahuasca's mental health benefits persist, with varying trajectories of change over time.

Published
February 20, 2025
Journal
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
Authors
Pagni, B. A., Halman, A., Sarris, J., Chenhall, R., Bogenschutz, M. P., Perkins, D.

Clinical Trials

0 trials

No clinical trials have been tagged with both Ayahuasca and Substance Use Disorders (SUD) yet.

Trials are continuously being added as new studies are registered.

Explore further

Search all Ayahuasca papers Search all Substance Use Disorders (SUD) trials Full Ayahuasca profile Full Substance Use Disorders (SUD) profile