Mescaline for Healthy Volunteers

5 papers and 2 clinical trials exploring mescaline as a treatment for healthy volunteers.

CompoundPhenethylamine

Mescaline

A naturally occurring phenethylamine psychedelic found in certain cacti, investigated for its role in religious practice and psychiatric research.

Full Mescaline profile
IndicationApproximately 300 million people affected by depression worldwide.

Healthy Volunteers

Research involving healthy volunteers has expanded to investigate the therapeutic potentials of various psychedelics for mental health conditions. Recent findings, emphasizing compounds like psilocybin and DMT, illustrate a promising future for psychedelic-assisted therapies.

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Academic Research

5 papers
Open Accessindividual

Safety pharmacology of acute mescaline administration in healthy participants

Pooled analysis of two double‑blind, randomized, placebo‑controlled studies (48 participants, 96 administrations) found that single oral doses of mescaline 100–800 mg produced dose‑dependent increases in positive subjective effects with only moderate autonomic changes and no clinically significant liver, kidney or haematological abnormalities. Although nausea was dose‑limiting and small proportions experienced transient diastolic hypertension, tachycardia, fever or “flashbacks”, single doses up to 800 mg were considered safe with respect to acute psychological and physical harm in healthy participants in a controlled clinical setting.

Published
Journal
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Authors
Humbert-Droz, M.
Open Accessindividual

Acute dose-dependent effects of mescaline in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in healthy subjects

In a randomized double‑blind placebo‑controlled crossover study in 16 healthy volunteers, oral mescaline (100–800 mg) produced dose‑dependent subjective and autonomic effects with dose‑proportional pharmacokinetics (Tmax ≈2 h, t1/2 ≈3.5 h) and increasing duration (6.4–14 h), with reduced tolerability and frequent nausea/emesis at 800 mg. Co‑administration of the 5‑HT2A antagonist ketanserin markedly attenuated and shortened the effects of 800 mg mescaline, indicating that its acute effects are primarily mediated by 5‑HT2A receptors.

Published
Journal
Translational Psychiatry
Authors
Becker, A. M., Erne, L., Jelusic, A., Klaiber, A., Liechti, M. E., Luethi, D., Schmid, Y., Straumann, I., Thomann, J.
Open Accessindividual

Comparative acute effects of mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study in healthy participants

In a randomized, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled cross‑over study in 32 healthy volunteers, mescaline (300/500 mg), LSD (100 µg) and psilocybin (20 mg) produced comparable acute subjective effects with no qualitative differences in altered states of consciousness at psychoactive‑equivalent doses. Pharmacokinetic differences explained duration differences (mescaline ≈11.1 h, LSD ≈8.2 h, psilocybin ≈4.9 h), with modest autonomic and oxytocin effects (mescaline and LSD increased oxytocin) and similar tolerability apart from slightly more subacute adverse effects after mescaline.

Published
Journal
Neuropsychopharmacology
Authors
Arikci, D., Becker, A. M., Coviello, F., Dierbach, S., Duthaler, U., Eckert, A., Holze, F., Klaiber, A., Ley, L., Liechti, M. E., Luethi, D., Straumann, I., Thomann, J., Varghese, N.

Clinical Trials

2 trials

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