The investigators wish to quantify the relation between administered dose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), plasma LSD levels, and occupancy at the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) using \[11C\]CIMBI-36 positron emission tomography.
Healthy participants will be administered one of a single dose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) between 25 and 200 micrograms equivalent freebase. They will receive \[11C\]CIMBI-36 positron emission tomography (PET) scans at baseline and twice following LSD administration during peak and declining drug effects. PET scans will be acquired in a simultaneous PET/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner which will also collect functional brain imaging data. Venous blood samples will be repeatedly drawn during acute drug effects for quantification of plasma LSD levels. Participants will also repeatedly rate their subjective drug intensity on a scale from 0 to 10 during acute drug effects. Together these data will inform the dose-binding relation of LSD at the serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor, the primary site of action. This data will also inform the relation between 5-HT2A receptor binding by LSD and the induced subjective effects, as well as the effects on functional brain activity as measured with functional MRI.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) D-tartrate as oral drinking solution (water / ethanol 20% m/m)
Neurobiology Research Unit, Rigshospitalet
Copenhagen, Denmark
Plasma LSD - serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) occupancy relation
Occupancy will be estimated by comparing non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) values using baseline and intervention rescans as calculated using a simplified reference tissue model (SRTM). Occupancy values will be compared to plasma lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) levels.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration
Subjective drug intensity - 5-HT2AR occupancy relation
Occupancy will be calculated as described above. Subjective drug intensity is collected during positron emission tomography (PET) scans by asking participants.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration
fMRI network disintegration - 5-HT2AR occupancy relation
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data will be used to estimate functional-network connectivity using a standard functional brain atlas. Then the relation between decreases in functional network connectivity and 5-HT2AR occupancy will be estimated.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration
fMRI brain entropy - 5-HT2AR occupancy relation
fMRI brain entropy will be estimated by the shannon entropy of dynamic conditional correlation of within and between network connectivity as well as the lempel-ziv complexity of concatenated binarised blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals across regions. The relation between each of these measures with 5-HT2AR occupancy will be estimated.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration
Cerebral perfusion - 5-HT2AR occupancy relation
Cerebral perfusion will be estimated using arterial spin labelling. The relation between this measure and 5-HT2AR occupancy will be estimated.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration
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Administered LSD dose - 5-HT2AR occupancy relation
Administered dose (25 to 200 mcg) will be compared with peak LSD occupancy to determine what doses produce maximal occupancy at the 5-HT2AR.
Time frame: Within 24 hours following drug administration