Effectiveness of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment with MDMA: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i9.31389Keywords:
3,4-Methylenodioxymethamphetamine; Assisted Psychotherapy; Psychedelics.Abstract
Introduction: In front of the actual context of protagonism return of clinic use of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) after years of research stoppage with psychedelics, it has emerged several studies with the objective of finding an effective alternative for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment with the assistance of psychotherapy.Objectives: The present study has the objective of bringing information about the actual and contextualized scenery of MDMA research in the PTSD treatment as the effective avaliation in front of the view of recent and relevant randomized clinical trials studies.Methodology: PRISMA was used as protocol and the data base consulted was: Pubmed, Embase, Scopus and Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde. The Periodic CAPES was the platform used to get access of full texts in some cases. The eligibility criteria included only double-blind randomized controlled trials with MDMA utilization for PTSD treatment in English language.Results: Five studies were included in Systematic Review, with the content of 176 patients with mean age: 37 to 42 years old. The predominant country in the studies was the United States, but also appears: Canada, Israel and Switzerland. The compilation of studies was considered homogeneous in terms of utilized intervention, research methodology and patients. Conclusion: With the data, exposed literature, and considering an impartial vision about psychedelics, it is possible to conclude that 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine holds a tremendous potential that can be even more explored in reference to PTSD treatment.
References
APA (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Bouso, J. C., et al. (2008). MDMA-assisted psychotherapy using low doses in a small sample of women with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs, 40 (3), 225–36.
Blake, D. D., et al. (1995). The Development Of A Clinician-Administered Ptsd Scale Journal Of Traumatic Stress.
De Gregorio, D., et al. (2021). Hallucinogens in mental health: preclinical and clinical studies on lsd, psilocybin, mdma, and ketamine. Journal Of Neuroscience.
Galvão, T. F., & Pereira, M. G. (2014). Revisões sistemáticas da literatura: passos para sua elaboração. Epidemiologia E Serviços De Saúde. 23(1), 183–4.
Krediet, E., et al. (2020). Reviewing the potential of psychedelics for the treatment of ptsd. International Journal Of Neuropsychopharmacology Oxford University Press.
Latimer, D., et al. (2021). MDMA to treat ptsd in adults. Psychopharmacology Bulletin.
Mitchell, J. M., et al. (2021). MDMA-assisted therapy for severe ptsd: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study. Nature Medicine. 27(6), 1025–33.
Mithoefer M. C., et al. (2018). 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) -Assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans, firefighters, and police officers: a randomised, double-blind, dose-response, phase 2 clinical trial. Lancet Psychiatry.
Mithoefer, M. C., et al. (2011). The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine- Assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study. Journal Of Psychopharmacology.
Mithoefer, M. C. (2017). A manual For MDMA-Assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Nichols, D. E. (1986). Differences between the mechanism of action of mdma, mbdb, and the classic hallucinogens. identification of a new therapeutic class: entactogens. Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs.
Oehen, P., et al. (2013). A randomized, controlled pilot study of MDMA (±3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine)- Assisted psychotherapy for treatment of resistant, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Journal Of Psychopharmacology.
Ot’alora G, M., et al. (2018) . 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine- Assisted psychotherapy for treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized phase 2 controlled trial. Journal Of Psychopharmacology.
Page, M. J., et al. (2021). Prisma 2020 explanation and elaboration: Updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews . The Bmjbmj Publishing Group.
Pereira, M. G., & Galvão, T. F. (2014). Etapas de busca e seleção de artigos em revisões sistemáticas da literatura. Epidemiologia e serviços de saúde.
Pereira, M. G., & Galvão, T. F. (2014). Extração, avaliação da qualidade e síntese dos dados para revisão sistemática. Epidemiologia e serviços de saúde.
Schenk, S. & Newcombe, D. (2018). Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in psychiatry: pros, cons, and suggestions. Journal of clinical psychopharmacology lippincott williams and wilkins.
Sessa, B., (2017). MDMA And PTSD Treatment: “PTSD: from novel pathophysiology to innovative therapeutics”. Neuroscience Letters Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Sessa, B., Higbed, L., & Nutt, D. (2019). A review of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- Assisted psychotherapy frontiers in. Psychiatry Frontiers Media S.A.
Thomas, K. (2021). Expert: MDMA is very likely to be FDA-approved for PTSD by the end of 2023. Https://Www.Pharmacytimes.Com/View/Expert-Mdma-Is-Very-Likely-To-Be-Fda-Approved-For-Ptsd-By-The-End-Of-2023.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Emilly Vasconcelos Borges Fontes; Carla Pereira Santos Porto; José Peixoto de Alencar Neto; Vivian Azevedo Marques de Campos; Lauro Costa de Oliveira; Luiz Felipe Chaves Carvalho
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
