Recruiting
Phase 1

DMT

Sponsor:

Deepak C. D'Souza

Code:

NCT06671977

Conditions

Major Depression Disorder

Depression

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 21 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

DMT-Medium Dose

DMT-Low Dose

THC-Medium Dose

THC-Low Dose

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this phase 1 study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in individuals with depression and healthy controls. We hypothesize that administration of DMT will result in decreases in depression, associated symptoms, and neuroplastic changes in depressed subjects. We expect that DMT will induce changes in neuroplasticity as indexed using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures and tasks in both depressed individuals and healthy volunteers, though to different degrees. These neuronal changes may in parallel cause changes in mood measured both in healthy and depressed subjects, which will be captured using appropriate psychometric measures of mood.

Conditions

Major Depression Disorder

Depression

Study ID

NCT06671977

Start date

Mar 14, 2025

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Dec 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 1, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 21 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Some Common Inclusion Criteria:

1. Males and females
2. Age 21 to 65 years
3. Body mass index between 18-35 kg/m2
4. Willing to refrain from taking any medications not approved by the study physician
5. Willing to refrain from using street drugs and alcohol
6. Negative urine drug screen
7. Willing and able to abstain from smoking throughout each test session
8. Women who are of child-bearing potential (WOCBP) and sexually active must be willing to practice an effective means of birth control
9. Willing not to drive to and from the testing session

Some Inclusion Criteria for Subjects with MDD:

1. Diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
2. Unsatisfactory response to antidepressants
3. Engaged in treatment for depression with a clinician and willing to continue treatment for the duration of the study
4. Not engaged in treatment
5. Consent to allow the research team to communicate with mental health provider.
6. Only subjects who get support for participation in the trial from their mental health clinician will be eligible to be enrolled in the study

Some Common Exclusion Criteria:

1. Medications that might significantly interfere with the effects of the study medications
2. Cognitive dysfunction that could interfere with study participation
3. Alcohol or substance use disorder
4. Any lifetime history of hallucinogen use disorder
5. Regular use or misuse of hallucinogens
6. History of intolerance to perceptual altering drugs
7. Significant blood pressure problems
8. Pregnancy or currently breast feeding (lactation)
9. Any unstable medical conditions
10. Significant cardiovascular disease
11. Significantly abnormal laboratory test results
12. History of serotonin syndrome

Some Exclusion criteria for MDD subjects:

1. Current primary psychiatric disorder other than MDD
2. Medically significant condition rendering unsuitability for the study

Some Exclusion criteria for healthy controls:

1. No current DSM-V psychiatric disorder, excluding nicotine and caffeine use disorder
2. No family history of serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)

Some Inclusion criteria for healthy controls:

1. No current DSM-5 psychiatric disorder, excluding nicotine and caffeine use disorder
2. No lifetime use of psychiatric medication >3 months (proxy for psychiatric disorders)

Study Design

Enrollment

60 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: 10 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then 0.01 mg/kg/min for 55 minutes

Low dose DMT

active comparator: 14 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then 0.015 mg/kg/min for 55 minutes.

Medium Dose DMT

active comparator: 0.5 mg over 5 minutes and then 2 mg over and 55 minutes

THC-Medium Dose

placebo comparator: Placebo

active comparator: 0.1 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then I mg over 55 minutes

Low Dose THC

Interventions

DMT-Medium Dose

14 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then 0.015 mg/kg/min for 55 minutes.

DMT-Low Dose

10 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then 0.01 mg/kg/min for 55 minutes

THC-Medium Dose

0.5 mg over 5 minutes and then 2 mg over and 55 minutes

THC-Low Dose

0.1 mg slow intravenous push (bolus) over 5 minutes and then I mg over 55 minutes

Primary outcome measure

  • Safety of Physiological indices [ Time Frame: Time Frame: -60 and -30 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +5, +10, +15, +20, +30, +45, +60, and +120 minutes after DMT administration]blood pressure and heart rate will be measured before, during, and after the dosing on each test day. ]
  • Psychedelic Effects [ Time Frame: From start Test Day Time points (Minutes): -60, +30, +120. ]
  • Psychotomimetic Effects [ Time Frame: Test Day Time points (Minutes): -60, +30, +120 ]
  • Anxiety [ Time Frame: Test Day Time points (Minutes): -60, +30, +120 ]
  • Depression [ Time Frame: From start of test day (-60), +30, and +120. ]
  • Intensity of the Experience [ Time Frame: Test Day Time points (Minutes): +150 - +180 ]
  • Drug Reinforcing Effects [ Time Frame: Test Day Time points (Minutes): +120 ]
  • Tolerability of Overt Adverse Effects [ Time Frame: Test Day Time points (Minutes): -60, +30, +120, 180 (end of test day) ]
  • Electrophysiological [ Time Frame: Resting State EEG: Will be collected the day after each dosing session. [Time Frame: -60 minutes before DMT administration until +180 minutes after DMT administration]. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

Biological Studies Unit at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Yale School of Medicine,

Recruiting

West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516

Contacts

More Information

Sponsor

Deepak C. D'Souza

Last update posted

Jun 16, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Deepak C. D'Souza on 2026-06-16.