Acute and subacute psychoactive effects of Kamb\xf4, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Maki Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor): retrospective reports

Timo Torsten Schmidt,Felix Bermpohl,Simon Reiche,Tomislav Majić,Caroline L C Hage

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78527-4

Abstract

Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) contains a plethora of bioactive peptides and was originally used by indigenous communities from the Amazon basin as medicine for improving hunting capacities. In the last 20 years, Kambô has spread to Western urban healing circles. To date it is still controversial whether the acute effects of Kambô include alterations of consciousness similar to known psychoactive substance like serotonergic psychedelics. Here we retrospectively assessed psychological effects of Kambô in a sample of anonymous users (n = 22, mean age: 39 years, ± 8.5; 45.5% female), administering standardized questionnaires for the assessment of altered states of consciousness (ASC), including the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) for acute effects and the Persisting Effects Questionnaire (PEQ) and a scale assessing connectedness for subacute effects. The intensity of retrospectively reported acute psychological effects remained on a mild to moderate level, with no psychedelic-type distortions of perception or thinking. Conversely, persisting effects were predominantly described as positive and pleasant, revealing high scores on measures of personal and spiritual significance.

Highlights

Kambô, the secretion of the Amazonian Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) contains a plethora of bioactive peptides and was originally used by indigenous communities from the Amazon basin as medicine for improving hunting capacities
The consecutive part of the study on the subacute effects of Kambô was completed by n = 14, where one participants’ Persisting Effects Questionnaire (PEQ) data and one participants’ Connectedness Scale (CS) data were excluded due to inappropriate completion, leaving for each n = 13 datasets
In our study investigating subjective retrospective reports of effects of Kambô—the secretion of the Giant Maki Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor)—on human consciousness, we report three major findings: (1) regarding the acute period of the pharmacological action, only subtle effects on consciousness were reported, not comparable to serotonergic psychedelics with regard to qualitative aspects and intensity; (2) participants reported positive subacute after-effects, which in some aspects showed overlaps with psychedelic “afterglow” phenomena; (3) about half of the participants retrospectively appraised their experiences with Kambô as both highly spiritually and personally relevant for their lives, analogous to appraisals of mystical experiences reported under high dosages of serotonergic psychedelics

Summary

Introduction

The secretion of the Amazonian Giant Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) contains a plethora of bioactive peptides and was originally used by indigenous communities from the Amazon basin as medicine for improving hunting capacities. In the last 20 years, Kambô has spread to Western urban healing circles To date it is still controversial whether the acute effects of Kambô include alterations of consciousness similar to known psychoactive substance like serotonergic psychedelics. From its Amazonian origins to its use in the context of Brazilian syncretic religions like the Santo Daime and the União do V egetal[7] and, to its use in Western healing circles, Kambô has often been associated with the spread of the serotonergic psychedelic ayahuasca[6]. Different names used for the frog’s secretion include “Kambô”, “kampu”, “vaccino da floresta” and “sapo”, which incorrectly means “toad” in Spanish This variability of the terms has sometimes led to a confusion of Kambô with the secretion of the Sonoran Desert Toad (Bufo alvarius), which is referred to as “sapo”[6]. Given the different application routes, the two substances are usually not confused by users, even though ceremonies where secretions from Kambô and Bufo alvarius are combined have recently been proposed in Western psychedelic circles

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