Effect of Ritualistic Consumption of Ayahuasca on Hepatic Function in Chronic Users

ABSTRACT

Ayahuasca is a beverage obtained from decoctions of the liana Banisteriopsis caapi plus the shrub Psychotria viridis. This beverage contains a combination of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the main substance responsible for its visionary effect. The ritualistic use of ayahuasca is becoming a global phenomenon. Most members of ayahuasca churches consume this beverage throughout their life, and many reports have discussed the therapeutic potential of this beverage. Ayahuasca is consumed orally, and the liver, as the major organ for the metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotics absorbed from the alimentary tract, may be susceptible to injury by compounds present in the ayahuasca decoction. In this study, we evaluated biochemical parameters related to hepatic damage in the serum of 22 volunteers who consumed ayahuasca twice a month or more for at least one year. There was no significant alteration in the following parameters: alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, creatinine, urea, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma glutamyl transferase. These findings indicate that chronic ayahuasca consumption in a religious context apparently does not affect hepatic function.

KEYWORDS:

• Ayahuasca
• beta-carboline alkaloids
• dimethyltryptamine
• hepatic function

Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. Stephen Hyslop (Department of Pharmacology, State University of Campinas–UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, Brazil) for editing the English of this article and we thank Marcia dos Santos and Celso A. Duartes for technical support.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Fundo de Amparo à Pesquisa (FAP) of the Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences [Grant number: 09/2012].