Fixed Order, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation Study of DMT in Humans

July 31, 2025 updated by: Deepak C. D'Souza, Yale University
The goal of this fixed order, open-label, dose-escalation study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of specific doses of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in humans.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The results of this study will inform the doses to be used in a larger, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Since the goal of the open label study is to inform the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, the investigators are citing the hypothesis of the latter solely for providing context. The investigators hypothesize that the administration of DMT will result in neuroplastic changes in healthy and depressed subjects. These changes in neuroplasticity will be indexed using electroencephalographic (EEG) measures and tasks. 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.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516
        • Biological Studies Unit at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Yale School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Healthy controls inclusion criteria:

  • Medically healthy
  • Psychiatrically healthy

Healthy controls exclusion criteria:

  • Unstable medical conditions
  • Psychiatric illness

Depression inclusion criteria:

  • Medically healthy
  • Diagnosis of major depressive disorder

Depression exclusion criteria:

-Unstable medical conditions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: 0.1 mg/kg DMT
0.1 mg/kg DMT administered intravenously
Drug: 0.1 mg/kg Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
0.1 mg/kg DMT
Other Names:
  • Low Dose DMT
Active Comparator: 0.3 mg/kg DMT
0.3 mg/kg DMT administered intravenously
Drug: 0.3 mg/kg Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
0.3 mg/kg DMT
Other Names:
  • Moderate Dose DMT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Blood Pressure
Time Frame: -60 and -30 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +5, +10, +15, +20, +30, +45, +60, and +120 minutes after DMT administration
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be measured before and several times after the administration of DMT on each test day.
-60 and -30 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +5, +10, +15, +20, +30, +45, +60, and +120 minutes after DMT administration
Change in Heart Rate
Time Frame: -60 and -30 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +5, +10, +15, +20, +30, +45, +60, and +120 minutes after DMT administration
Heart rate will be measured before and several times after the administration of DMT on each test day.
-60 and -30 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +5, +10, +15, +20, +30, +45, +60, and +120 minutes after DMT administration
Change in Psychedelic Effects
Time Frame: -60 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +30, and +60 minutes after DMT administration
The modified Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (ASC) will be used to assess drug-induced altered states of consciousness before and several times after drug administration. This is a 23-item subjective rating scale that will be completed using a visual analog scale format. Questions are scored 0 to 100 each; higher numbers indicate greater psychedelic effects.
-60 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +30, and +60 minutes after DMT administration
Change in Anxiety
Time Frame: -60 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +30, and +60 minutes after DMT administration
Anxiety will be assessed using a visual analog scale that subjects will be asked to score from 0 (not at all) to 100 (worst ever) to capture the net anxiety produced by DMT. This will be collected before and several times after DMT administration.
-60 minutes before DMT administration; 0, +30, and +60 minutes after DMT administration
Drug Reinforcing Effects
Time Frame: +120 minutes after DMT administration
Subjects will be asked to answer questions such as (1) How likely are you to use this drug? and (2) How much are you willing to pay for this experience? using a visual analog scale.
+120 minutes after DMT administration
Overall Tolerability assessed by the VAS
Time Frame: +120 minutes after DMT administration
Overall tolerability will be assessed using a visual analog scale that subjects will be asked to score from 0 (well tolerated) to 100 (intolerable) to capture the net tolerability of DMT.
+120 minutes after DMT administration

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Yale University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 17, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 12, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 12, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 15, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 3, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 31, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2000027720

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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