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Do psychedelics have therapeutic potential for obesity?

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Classic psychedelics are being revisited as novel drug candidates. Researchers are investigating the efficacy of psychedelics for disorders such as depression and addiction. Facets of obesity pathophysiology are neurobiologically similar to these conditions, and we propose that obesity could be the next frontier in psychedelic research.

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Fig. 1: Proposed psychedelic mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research is an independent Research Center based at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and partially funded by an unconditional donation from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (www.cbmr.ku.dk) (Grant number NNF18CC0034900).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Nicole Fadahunsi & Christoffer Clemmensen

  2. Neurobiology Research Unit, Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gitte Moos Knudsen

  3. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Gitte Moos Knudsen

Authors
  1. Nicole Fadahunsi
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  2. Gitte Moos Knudsen
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  3. Christoffer Clemmensen
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Correspondence to Christoffer Clemmensen.

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Competing interests

C.C. is co-founder of Ousia Pharma ApS, a biotech company developing therapeutics for obesity. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Fadahunsi, N., Knudsen, G.M. & Clemmensen, C. Do psychedelics have therapeutic potential for obesity?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 19, 1–2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00769-1

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