Ayahuasca as treatment for depression: a systematic review

• Grant number: 23/07091-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Rachel Riera
• Grantee: Israel Alejandro Martínez Palma
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Depression is a mental disorder that affects around 300 million people worldwide, and is characterized by a feeling of sadness, decreased interest and/or pleasure in performing activities. Although there are effective treatments for depression, these drugs have a low adherence because they have a long latency period to produce evident effects and can generate side effects. Therefore, it is important to look for new pharmacological approaches to depression, and it is in this context that recent studies have shown that psychedelics such as ayahuasca could have an antidepressant action. Thus, a systematic review of the literature will be carried out to map, critically evaluate and synthesize the evidence on the efficacy and safety of ayahuasca for this purpose. The protocol was prospectively registered in the PROSPERO database and the recommendations of the Cochrane Handbook for Reviews of Interventions will be followed for the planning and development of the review. The report will be written following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2020) [Page 2021].