Apart from the psychedelic psilocybin, the metabolite spectrum of Psilocybe "magic mushrooms" comprises sesquiterpenes, a class of natural products known to exhibit receptor-modulating bioactivities. However, the composition of the sesquiterpene profile has largely remained an open question. Here, we report the characterization of five Psilocybe cubensis ses...
Psilocybin, chemically known as (4-phosphoryloxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine, 4-PODMT), is derived from the psychoactive mushroom genus, Psilocybe. Of the four active metabolites, psilocin readily enters systemic circulation. The psychoactive effects of psilocin are thought to arise through partial agonist effects at the 5-HT2A receptor. Psychedelic drugs, inclu...
Nach einer Pause gibt es heute wieder Evidenz-Quickies, und zwar gleich mehrere, dafür aber kürzer und weniger ausführlich als zuletzt. Und dieses Format ist jetzt zweigeteilt: (a) Für alle, denen die Nachricht genügt, gibt es oben die Quickies in Kürze. (b) Alle, die weiterlesen wollen, finden die detaillierten Fassungen unten. Viel Freude und hoffentlich i...
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...
In April 2024, FSQ Forensic Chemists attended Queensland’s largest mushroom growing operation. Seized items included: 219 50 L plastic tubs of mushrooms in growth medium, bags of dried mushroom material, sterilised grain bags and spores in liquid. In consultation with QPS, six exhibits were selected for illicit drug analysis. Fresh mushrooms were harvested a...
The psychedelic mushroom Psilocybe cubensis is cultivated worldwide for recreational and medicinal use. Described initially from Cuba in 1906, there has been substantial debate about its origin and diversification. The prevailing view is that P. cubensis was inadvertently introduced to the Americas when cattle were introduced to the continent from Africa and...
Psilocybin is an emerging investigational compound with therapeutic potential in neuropsychiatric disorders, creating a need for flexible and scalable dosage forms suitable for early clinical development. This study aimed to develop and evaluate psilocybin-loaded oral thin film (OTF) formulations as a dose-proportional platform for early-phase clinical use. ...
Abstract Background and Aims Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound that may hold promise for a wide range of human health conditions, yet the identification of therapeutic processes and mechanisms of action remains exploratory. We conducted a scoping review of pre-clinical behavioural investigations of psilocybin in non-human animals to identify behavioural e...
PcncAAAD is a noncanonical fungal aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD) featuring a unique appendage C-terminal domain (CTD) and two metal-binding sites. Unlike its mammalian and plant counterparts, PcncAAAD is activated by calcium, although the exact activation mechanism remains unclear. Here, we establish an in silico RMSD-based evaluation model throu...
ABSTRACT This paper examines the intimate relationship of affection, consumption, and ritual practice between humanity and mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe, focusing mainly on the Americas and Brazil. To this end, it uses reflections that present the American continent as a macroregion historically marked by transits, connections, and exchanges since pre-Col...
The therapeutic potential of psilocybin in treating psychiatric disorders has gained attention recently. While most research has focused on isolated psilocybin, evidence suggests that whole mushroom extracts exhibit greater efficacy, implicating a possible entourage effect of additional bioactive compounds. This study aimed to elucidate the holistic neuropha...
Psilocybin is the primary psychoactive compound in "magic mushrooms"; it has been used by humans for millennia, it is in promising clinical trials with humans and used in legalized psilocybin-assisted therapy, and researchers use and are further developing human-based methods with cutting-edge technologies.However, researchers are still allowed to conduct un...
Abstract Background and aims Despite growing popularity and increasing legal access, psychedelic therapy remains financially inaccessible to many. This study was designed to test the feasibility of conducting group psilocybin therapy in low-income adults with depression in Oregon's regulated psilocybin program. Methods An open label, uncontrolled design was ...
Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed unprecedented insights into how psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, induces therapeutic neural plasticity. This paper reviews groundbreaking research conducted by Cornell University and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which employed genetically modified rabies virus for monosynaptic c...
Psilocin, a naturally occurring hallucinogenic component of magic mushrooms, exerts notable psychoactive effects in both humans and rodents. However, the underlying mechanisms remain not fully understood. Blood-oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a valuable tool in many preclinical and clinical trials for invest...
Psilocybin is a psychoactive chemical compound that exerts its effects through the activation of serotonergic receptors. It occurs naturally in mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe. Despite its potential medical applications, this substance is regarded as a drug with no recognized medical use. Depression constitutes a psychiatric disorder of substantial global b...
About 30-50% of patients with advanced illness experience depression, anxiety, or decreased sense of purpose and autonomy. Together, these are called psychological distress. Treatment options such as medication and therapy are available; however, they do not always work and can be time-consuming and expensive. We need treatments that work well, quickly, and ...
Psilocybin is a molecule with significant potential for the treatment of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. In this study, it was explored the extraction of psilocybin from Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms using a factorial design approach, along with the physicochemical and phytochemical characteri...
