A preliminary study of possible psychoactive effects of intravenous forskolin in depressed and schizophrenic patients

Forskolin is a unique activator of adenylate cyclase that bypasses membrane receptors and directly raises levels of the second messenger cyclic AMP. Depressed patients and schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms have been reported to have reduced cyclic AMP levels. In the first study of forskolin in psychiatry, we gave iv forskolin in a 75 minute infusion to four depressed and five schizophrenic patients. All four depressed patients showed a transient mood elevation or stimulation, as did two of the five schizophrenic patients.