Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 23;7(1):39-45.
doi: 10.9740/mhc.2017.01.039. eCollection 2017 Jan.

Ayahuasca: An ancient sacrament for treatment of contemporary psychiatric illness?

Benjamin J Malcolm  1 , Kelly C Lee  2
Affiliations

Ayahuasca: An ancient sacrament for treatment of contemporary psychiatric illness?

Benjamin J Malcolm et al. Ment Health Clin. .

Abstract

Ayahuasca is a traditional psychoactive sacrament that's been used in Amazonian shamanic rituals for hundreds of years. Ayahuasca is notorious for its psychedelic properties produced from the combination of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) found in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and N-N-dimethyltryptamine from Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys cabrerana. Recently, ritual use of ayahuasca has increased and garnered attention for its potential in treating mental illnesses, such as substance use and depressive disorders. Due to its MAOI properties, there are serious drug interactions that may be of concern among patients who participate in ayahuasca use. The objectives of this paper are to describe ayahuasca's pharmacology, potential drug interactions, and clinical data for its treatment potential in psychiatric illness.

Keywords: ayahuasca; dimethyltryptamine; harmine; monoamine oxidase; sacrament.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: Benjamin J. Malcolm has no relevant conflicts of interest or financial relationships to disclose. Kelly C. Lee is a consultant for Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. Kenneth W. Tupper, PhD, is an adjunct professor, School of Population & Public Health at the University of British Columbia, and works in public health policy at the British Columbia Ministry of Health. He provided manuscript review for accuracy pertaining to anthropological, legal, and policy approaches regarding ayahuasca. He has no relevant conflicts of interest or financial relationships to disclose.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Tupper KW, Wood E, Yensen R, Johnson MW. . Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm. CMAJ. 2015; 187 14: 1054- 9. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.141124. PubMed PMID: 26350908. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blainey MG. . Forbidden therapies: Santo Daime, ayahuasca, and the prohibition of entheogens in Western society. J Relig Health. 2015; 54 1: 287- 302. DOI: 10.1007/s10943-014-9826-2. PubMed PMID: 24477460. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Eisner B. . Set, setting, and matrix. J Psychoactive Drugs. 1997; 29 2: 213- 6. DOI: 10.1080/02791072.1997.10400190. PubMed PMID: 9250949. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Winkelman M. . Drug tourism or spiritual healing? Ayahuasca seekers in Amazonia. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2005; 37 2: 209- 18. DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2005.10399803. PubMed PMID: 16149335. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kavenská V, Simonová H. . Ayahuasca tourism: participants in shamanic rituals and their personality styles, motivation, benefits and risks. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2015; 47 5: 351- 9. DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2015.1094590. PubMed PMID: 26514589. - DOI - PubMed