Naturally derived psilocybin is widely used, yet its therapeutic potential, pharmacological distinctiveness and regulatory feasibility remain understudied. This review evaluates the potential of naturally derived psilocybin using a six-criterion framework to evaluate: (1) therapeutic benefit, (2) safety and tolerability, (3) pharmacological uniqueness vs. sy...
Psilocin is a psychedelic indole alkaloid and one of the major human metabolites of its phosphorylated precursor, psilocybin. Psilocin binds to the serotonin receptor, 5-HT2A, and dose-dependently induces hallucinogenic effects stronger than psilocybin. As a result, psilocin has been a drug of interest in the analytical toxicology community for years. In viv...
BackgroundWild mushroom foraging is common in the United States. Poisoning usually results from misidentification, though some "edible" mushrooms can also cause toxicity. Armillaria ("honey mushrooms") are widely foraged and generally considered edible, yet sporadic gastrointestinal illness has been reported. Their clinical effects remain poorly described. P...
Serotonergic psychedelics such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) show therapeutic promise for psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders but may be limited by liabilities from serotonin (5-HT)-2A mediated psychoactive effects and potential cardiotoxicity via 5-HT2B activation. To address these limitation...
ABSTRACT Accidental ingestion of psilocybin-containing mushrooms can cause poisoning and hallucinations, making their rapid detection a public health priority. Conventional methods such as HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, TLC, CE, and ELISA provide sensitivity but are often destructive, time-consuming, or impractical for real-time applications. This study introduces a Ra...
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent and disabling psychiatric condition associated with substantial clinical, social, and economic burden [1,2]. Despite the availability of conventional antidepressants, their limited effectiveness, delayed onset of action, and high relapse rates have renewed interest in innovative therapeutic ap...
Detecting psilocybin use is challenging because it rapidly converts to its psychoactive metabolite psilocin, and both compounds are unstable in blood. Bufotenin, a structural isomer of psilocin, may exhibit comparable instability in blood. For reliable detection, we developed and validated an LC-MS/MS method to simultaneously quantify psilocin, bufotenin, an...
Introduction Psychoactive Psilocybe spp. mushrooms pose significant public health risks. We report a cluster of Psilocybe keralensis poisonings in Chengdu, China, highlighting its unique clinical features and cardiovascular complications.Case Series Four patients ingested 16-90 g of wild mushrooms (misidentified as an edible species, but later molecularly co...
OBJECTIVE: Due to the boom in the use of certain psychedelics in different neuropsychiatric conditions, the objective was to synthesize the available information on the use of psilocybin (a psychedelic) in the population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; a developmental neuropsychiatric condition). METHODS: Scoping review. Question framework: Population: p...
Objectives: Given the increasing use of psilocybin-containing substances across a variety of use settings, understanding the potential risks is imperative for informing public health policy, health care providers, and consumers. Poison centers (PCs) receive calls following exposures to potential toxins to support the detection, prevention, and treatment of t...
IntroductionMushrooms, belonging to the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, comprise approximately 14,000 known species, among which a small fraction are toxic. While toxic mushrooms are primarily associated with adverse health effects, recent research highlights their potential as sources of bioactive compounds with promising therapeutic applications.Method...
Current drug policy classifies psilocybin, a compound found in psychoactive mushrooms, as having high abuse potential while overlooking its therapeutic properties. We evaluated the risk of psilocybin mushrooms to Brazilian public health compared to other toxic agents and assessed the need for regulatory discussions. This retrospective cross-sectional study f...
Neuroinflammation that is caused by microglia, the main immune cells of the brain, contributes to neurodegenerative diseases. Psychedelics, including psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), possess certain anti-inflammatory properties and, therefore, should be considered as drug candidates for treating neuroinflammatory pathologies. When ingested, p...
Background Current drug policy classifies psilocybin, a substance produced by psychoactive mushrooms, as having a high potential for abuse, neglecting its therapeutic properties. We aimed to investigate if psilocybin mushrooms pose a risk to Brazilian public health compared to other toxic agents and whether evidence-based regulatory discussions are needed. M...
Introduction Since the last edition of the Black Book, several innovative agents have been approved or are poised to be approved in the coming year. These include novel antidepressants, the first muscarine agonist for the treatment of schizophrenia, the first psychedelic which may be approved for the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and th...
Several fungi belonging to the genus Psilocybe, also called “magic mushrooms”, contain the hallucinogenic drugs psilocybin and psilocin. They are chemically related to serotonin (5-HT). In addition to being abused as drugs, they are now also being discussed or used as a treatment option for depression. Here, we hypothesized that psilocybin and psilocin may a...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are used as recreational drugs, and there is renewed interest in their clinical use. The current study aimed to (1) determine the circumstances of death and case characteristics of LSD- and psilocybin-related death in Australia, 2000-23; and (2) determine the toxicological profile and major...
A previously healthy adolescent presented to the emergency department with an abrupt onset of altered mental status and abnormal behaviour, including shaking of the extremities, rocking back and forth, and non-sensical speech, after ingestion of chocolate that contained psilocybin. Neurological
