Could psychedelic toad venom be the next great antidepressant?

The venom of a hallucinogenic toad could be a new form of antidepressant, scientists say.

The Colorado River toad, also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, has a psychedelic venom just beneath the surface, which it secretes from its glands when frightened.

And while it’s well known that this toad’s venom can cause intense hallucinations and trippy experiences, until now, scientists haven’t known exactly how it influences the brain.

But a recent study found that the toad’s hallucinogenic compound could form the basis of a new antidepressant.

Researchers studied a modified form of a DMT compound and how it interacts with one of the happiest hormones known as serotonin, but with a more obscure hormone known as the 5-HT1A serotonin receptor.

Research on psychedelics tends to focus on a similar serotonin receptor, 5-HT2A, because that’s what is activated when we hallucinate.

But structural pharmacologist Dr. Daniel Wacker, of the Icahn School of Medicine, and his team wanted to delve deeper into the 5-HT1A receptors.

The team chemically modified the toad’s venom to target only the serotonin 5-HT1A receptors and tested it on mice showing signs of stress and depression.

They found that the toad venom compound had a similar antidepressant and anti-anxiety effect in mice – but the mice didn’t get high or hallucinate.

Mice that received the compound drank tastier sugar water and spent more time with their peers, which is a sign of reduced anxiety and depression.

“Frankly, that’s what we hope to see,” Audrey Warren of Mount Sinai Hospital told New Scientist.

“We hope that eventually someone will be able to use the results of our study to help design new antidepressants for humans, but that is certainly far from the case.”

However, researchers say more studies are needed to see if this compound could have a similar effect in humans.

And it seems more likely that other well-known psychedelics will be approved as mental health aids sooner than any treatments derived from toad venom.

Psychedelics are in the spotlight in anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications. Magic mushrooms, or psilocybin, have led research because scientists say they could help with some of the most difficult to treat cases.

The study is published in Nature.

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