SynthesisPloS one2025
MDMA-assisted therapy and current treatment options for chronic, treatment-resistant, moderate or higher severity post-traumatic stress disorder: Systematic literature review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A living systematic review, meta-analysis, and open data resource of trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Oxytocin: a neglected hormone in pituitary disease - From function to the diagnosis of a deficiency, resulting clinical relevance, and potential treatment options in endocrinology.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) is currently being evaluated for treatment of patients with moderate or higher severity post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
objectiveTo provide a comprehensive summary of investigational MDMA-AT and current treatments for PTSD.
methodsA search was conducted in PubMed and Embase (December 20, 2023). Populations included adults with chronic, treatment-resistant, moderate or higher severity PTSD. Interventions were MDMA-AT and comparators based on PTSD treatment guidelines. The primary outcome of interest was the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) score. Other outcomes observed were Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and loss of diagnosis (LOD). Studies observing chronic, moderate or higher severity treatment-resistant PTSD in adults were included. Only randomized controlled trials published in English were considered. The NICE quality appraisal checklist was used to assess risk of bias in included studies. We provided qualitative synthesis of evidence presented in extraction tables.
resultsOverall, 77 studies were included. Phase II/III trials consistently reported significantly greater CAPS improvement with MDMA-AT vs. placebo with therapy (PT) after two or three interventional sessions. Durability was observed in a long-term follow-up trial (mean duration, 45.4 months) with a 0.9-point CAPS decrease from post-treatment. FDA-approved and off-label medications used for PTSD treatment did not yield a consistently greater CAPS decrease vs. control arms across trials. Significant CAPS improvement was consistently observed in venlafaxine ER, olanzapine, propranolol (with traumatic memory reactivation), nefazodone, and nabilone placebo-controlled trials. Most psychotherapy trials lacked between-group statistical assessments. Significant CAPS decrease compared to the waitlist was reported for cognitive therapy (CT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure (PE), and group cognitive exposure therapy. CAPS improvement was persistent for CPT and PE in long-term follow up (mean duration 6.2 years). MDMA-AT demonstrated significant improvement in BDI-II score compared to PT (19.7-point vs. 10.8-point decrease, respectively; p = 0.003). The percentage of participants with LOD after two or three active-dose MDMA-AT sessions ranged from 41.7-83.3%.
conclusionThis systematic review suggests current treatments for PTSD are associated with heterogeneous evidence and the majority do not demonstrate sustained effects. Results from MDMA-AT showed consistent improvements in CAPS, BDI and LOD.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.