Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that may develop in people who have been exposed to a traumatic event, including actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. Exposure to a traumatic event is defined as directly experiencing the event, learning about the event, or repeated exposure to details of the event. PTSD is often accompanied by other psychiatric and physical comorbidities, both of which are associated with elevated healthcare costs. Depression, psychosis and suicide rates are consistently reported in greater proportion of PTSD patients. Despite the overwhelming impact of PTSD and comorbid depression, there is a shortfall of effective treatments with few side effects that target the broad range of symptoms, including depression. Psilocybin has been studied for the treatment of depression, anxiety, tobacco and alcohol use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, end of life depression and anxiety, demonstrating safety and efficacy for a variety of indications, with no significant adverse events occurring during the course of treatment and follow-up. Notably, in a participant group distinguished by long-standing, moderate to severe major depressive disorder, two doses of psilocybin-assisted therapy were found to be as effective in antidepressant effects as 6 weeks of daily escitalopram, a commonly used SSRI. Promising results found in these studies have led to psilocybin recently receiving breakthrough designation from the US FDA for its potential therapeutic effect in the treatment of depression. Based on previous research, psilocybin has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and has shown preliminary efficacy against depression as well as other symptoms that typically affect patients with PTSD. Unlike traditional SSRIs which are associated with treatment-resistance and addiction, psilocybin requires few doses to improve a wide-range of symptoms and has not been linked with physical dependence. Furthermore, the effect of other psychedelics can vary greatly and may potentially exacerbate existing conditions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
160
Active
placebo
Incidence of adverse events
Treatment emergent AEs and SAEs
Time frame: Baseline to Day 140
Number of participants with abnormal vital signs, abnormal physical exam findings, abnormal ECG, and abnormal laboratory tests results
Measurements: vital signs, physical exam, ECG, and laboratory tests
Time frame: Baseline to Day 140
Change in severity of depressive symptoms
Assessed by total score of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II); 21-items scale. Total score of 0-13 is considered minimal range, 14-19 is mild, 20-28 is moderate, and 29-63 is severe.
Time frame: Baseline to Day 77
Change in severity of depressive symptoms
Assessed by total score of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II); 21-items scale. Total score of 0-13 is considered minimal range, 14-19 is mild, 20-28 is moderate, and 29-63 is severe.
Time frame: Baseline to Days 21, 49, and 140
Change in severity of PTSD symptoms
Assessed by total score of Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) (CAPS-5); 30-item questionnaire. Severity rating: 0=absent, 1-mild/sub-threshold, 2-moderate/threshold, 3-severe/markedly elevated, 4-extreme/incapacitating.
Time frame: Baseline to Days 21, 49, 77 and 140
Change in severity of anxiety
Assessed by Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI); 21-item scale. BAI scores are classified as minimal anxiety (0 to 7), mild anxiety (8 to 15), moderate anxiety (16 to 25), and severe anxiety (30 to 63).
Time frame: Baseline to Days 21, 49, 77 and 140
Change in presence and severity of suicidal ideation and behaviour
Assessed by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS); 10-category scale with binary (yes/no) responses. There are no specified clinical cutoffs for the C-SSRS due to the binary nature of the responses to items. When an item is endorsed ("yes"), the clinician must pose follow-up inquiries to obtain additional information.
Time frame: Baseline to Days 21, 49, 77 and 140
Change in chronic pain severity
Assessed by Brief Pain Inventory (BPI); 9-point questionnaire with 0-10 scale for each point; 0=no pain, 10=pain as bad as you can imagine.
Time frame: Baseline to Days 21, 49, 77 and 140
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