Psilocybin for Depression in People With Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Alzheimer's Disease

This is a pilot study evaluating the potential efficacy of psilocybin to produce improvement in depression compared to pre-treatment in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and clinically significant symptoms of depression. The study will be an open-label trial in a sample of up to 20 treatment-seeking participants with a diagnosis of MCI or early AD. Participants will complete an 8-week course of study treatment including two psilocybin sessions (15 mg/70 kg in week 4 and 15 or 25 mg/70 kg in week 6), with follow-up assessments up to 6 months after the final psilocybin session. The study will assess changes in depressed mood at 1 week after the second psilocybin session compared to pre-treatment, and quality of life in participants from pre- to post-treatment.

Inclusion criteria

• Must meet either A) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5) criteria for Mild Neurocognitive Disorder due to AD or Major Neurocognitive Disorder due to AD with Mild severity (including probable), or B) meet criteria for MCI including a subjective memory complaint relative to previous functioning and confirmed by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Memory score at screening of >0.5
• Have Mini-Mental State Examination scores >18
• Have a Montreal Cognitive Assessment score <26.
• Have Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) patient score >/= 6, or Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form score ≥ 5, indicating at minimum a mild to moderate degree of distress.
• Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are allowed so long as the dose has been stable for > 6 weeks.
• Concurrent pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI), and/or bupropion is allowed if the type and frequency of the therapy has been stable for at least two months prior to screening. Allowable bupropion doses for participants will be ≤300mg/day.
• Have a close friend or family member willing and able to serve the role of community observer / informant for data collection procedures

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals 86 years of age or older will be excluded.
• Currently taking antipsychotics, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, or antidepressant medications other than SSRIs, SNRIs, or bupropion. Allowable bupropion doses for participants will be ≤300mg/day.
• Long-acting opioid pain medications (e.g. oxycodone sustained release, morphine sustained release - which are usually taken at 12 hour intervals) will be allowed if the last dose occurred at least 2 hours before psilocybin administration and the next dose was not scheduled until at least 8 hours after psilocybin administration.
• Participants must agree not to take sildenafil, tadalafil, or similar medications within 72 hours of each psilocybin administration, as these medications may potentiate hypotensive reactions to psilocybin
• Cardiovascular conditions: angina, a clinically significant ECG abnormality (e.g. atrial fibrillation or heart-rate corrected QT interval (QTc) >450msec), Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) in the last 6 months, stroke, artificial heart valves, or uncontrolled hypertension with resting blood pressure systolic >150 or diastolic >95
• Minimum acceptable heartrate at screening is 50 bpm unless the individual is cleared for participation by a cardiologist, in accord with the American College of Cardiology's 2018 guidelines for bradycardia
• Seizure disorder
• Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
• Renal disease (creatinine clearance < 40 ml/min using the Cockcroft and Gault equation)
• Baseline liver enzyme elevation >2x the upper limit of normal
• Current or past history of meeting DSM-5 criteria for Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorder (unless substance-induced or due to a medical condition), or Bipolar I Disorder
• Family (i.e., 1st degree relative) history of Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorder (unless substance-induced or due to a medical condition), or Bipolar I Disorder
• Past-year hallucinogen use.