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- Title
CCH attack frequency reduction after psilocybin correlates with hypothalamic functional connectivity.
- Authors
Madsen, Martin K.; Petersen, Anja Sofie; Stenbæk, Dea S.; Sørensen, Inger Marie; Schiønning, Harald; Fjeld, Tobias; Nykjær, Charlotte H.; Larsen, Sara Marie Ulv; Grzywacz, Maria; Mathiesen, Tobias; Klausen, Ida L.; Overgaard‐Hansen, Oliver; Brendstrup‐Brix, Kristoffer; Linnet, Kristian; Johansen, Sys S.; Fisher, Patrick M.; Jensen, Rigmor H.; Knudsen, Gitte M.
- Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and prophylactic effect of psilocybin as well as its effects on hypothalamic functional connectivity (FC) in patients with chronic cluster headache (CCH). Background: CCH is an excruciating and difficult‐to‐treat disorder with incompletely understood pathophysiology, although hypothalamic dysfunction has been implicated. Psilocybin may have beneficial prophylactic effects, but clinical evidence is limited. Methods: In this small open‐label clinical trial, 10 patients with CCH were included and maintained headache diaries for 10 weeks. Patients received three doses of peroral psilocybin (0.14 mg/kg) on the first day of weeks five, six, and seven. The first 4 weeks served as baseline and the last 4 weeks as follow‐up. Hypothalamic FC was determined using functional magnetic resonance imaging the day before the first psilocybin dose and 1 week after the last dose. Results: The treatment was well tolerated. Attack frequency was reduced by mean (standard deviation) 31% (31) from baseline to follow‐up (pFWER = 0.008). One patient experienced 21 weeks of complete remission. Changes in hypothalamic–diencephalic FC correlated negatively with a percent change in attack frequency (pFWER = 0.03, R = −0.81), implicating this neural pathway in treatment response. Conclusion: Our results indicate that psilocybin may have prophylactic potential and implicates the hypothalamus in possible treatment response. Further clinical studies are warranted.
- Subjects
DENMARK; HYPOTHALAMUS physiology; TRYPTAMINE; CLINICAL trials; NEURAL pathways; FUNCTIONAL connectivity; MAGNETIC resonance imaging; TREATMENT effectiveness; DIARY (Literary form); DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; CLUSTER headache; DISEASE remission; EVALUATION
- Publication
Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain, 2024, Vol 64, Issue 1, p55
- ISSN
0017-8748
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/head.14656