Abstract Psilocybin, the natural hallucinogen produced by Psilocybe (“magic”) mushrooms, holds great promise for the treatment of depression and several other mental health conditions. The final step in the psilocybin biosynthetic pathway, dimethylation of the tryptophan-derived intermediate norbaeocystin, is catalysed by PsiM. Here we present atomic resolut...
Psychedelics are classical hallucinogen drugs that induce a marked altered state of consciousness. In recent years, there has been renewed attention to the possible use of classical psychedelics for the treatment of certain mental health disorders. However, further investigation to better understand their biological effects in humans, their mechanism of acti...
Psilocybin, a psychoactive alkaloid with hallucinogenic properties, exists in a variety of hallucinogenic mushrooms. As a study tool to imitate psychosis, psilocybin has aroused a lot of interest in the biological community due to its various possible therapeutic benefits. It is also a very popular and widely misused natural hallucinogens with distinct metab...
The salification and prodrug approaches modulate the physicochemical properties and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity parameters of drugs and lead candidates. The "phosphate" is one of the key counterions/promoiety used in the salt formation and prodrug synthesis. Salification with phosphoric acid enhances the aqueous solubility a...
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is known to induce powerful psychoactive effects in humans, which cemented its status as an important tool for clinical research. A range of analogues and derivatives has been investigated over the years, including those classified as new psychoactive substances. This study presents the characterization of the novel lysergami...
4-phosphorloxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound that is being investigated in clinical studies in conjunction with psychotherapy for treatment of several psychiatric disorders. It is well established that 4-hydroxy- N,N -dimethyltryptamine (psilocin) is the bioactive metabolite of psilocybin which mediates i...
4-Acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-AcO-DMT, psilacetin, O-acetylpsilocin) is a synthetic tryptamine with psychedelic properties. Psilacetin may also act as precursor drug of psilocin, similar to psilocybin, but little is known about its metabolism. In this study, the phase I and phase II in vitro metabolism of 4-AcO-DMT was investigated with pooled human li...
Emerging evidence from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials suggests psychedelic compounds such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), when administered as an adjunct to psychotherapy, that is, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), may be beneficial for treating substance use...
Hallucinogens are a loosely defined group of compounds including LSD, N,N-dimethyltryptamines, mescaline, psilocybin/psilocin, and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methamphetamine (DOM), which can evoke intense visual and emotional experiences. We are witnessing a renaissance of research interest in hallucinogens, driven by increasing awareness of their psychotherapeutic pot...
Psychotropic Psilocybe mushrooms biosynthesize their principal natural product psilocybin in five steps, among them a phosphotransfer and two methyltransfer reactions, which consume one equivalent of 5'-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and two equivalents of S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM). This short but co-substrate-intensive pathway requires nucleoside cofactor...
Parkinson's disease is often characterised by movement symptoms such as rigidity and bradykinesia, however, there are a number of non-motor symptoms that can have a significant impact on quality of life. One of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease is visual hallucinations (where someone sees things that don't exist outside their mind).. ...
Psilocybin is found in a family of mushrooms commonly known as "magic mushrooms" that have been used throughout history to induce hallucinations. In the late 1950s Albert Hofmann, of Sandoz Laboratories, identified and synthesized the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin which are found in psilocybe mushrooms. Psilocybin was marketed by Sandoz as I...
Psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, is an agonist of various serotonin receptors. Seminal psilocybin positron emission tomography (PET) research suggested regional increases in glucose metabolism in frontal cortex (hyperfrontality). However, a recent arterial spin labeling (ASL) study suggests psilocybin may lead to hypo-perfusion in va...