In the 1950s-60s, serotonergic psychedelic drugs were studied as potential adjuvants to psychotherapy to treat addiction and alcoholism. However, starting in the 70s, preclinical and clinical studies on psychedelics stopped for decades because legislation controlled its recreational use, citing their hallucinogenic and psychotomimetic effects, as well as the...
The classical psychedelics (+)-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and mescaline exert their psychedelic effects via activation of the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor (5-HT2AR). Recent clinical studies have suggested that classical psychedelics may additionally have therapeutic potential for many neuropsychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety,...
The influence of ovarian hormone fluctuations on neurochemistry, cognition, and psychological responses remains insufficiently examined in current psychedelic research and clinical protocols. Traditional practices and case studies underscore the importance of accounting for these factors in investigations of psychedelic effects. This opinion paper explores t...
Innovative therapies, such as psilocybin-assisted psychotherapies, hold great promises for treating anxiety, depression, and various other mental health disorders, addressing some of the challenges faced by conventional psychiatric medicine. This study focuses on developing and validating an HPLC-DAD methodology for detecting psilocybin and psilocin in extra...
Psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound produced by hallucinogenic mushrooms, has received attention due to considerable clinical evidence for its therapeutic potential to treat various psychiatric and neurodegenerative indications. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain enigmatic, and few studies have explored its systemic impa...
Recent advancements in the study of psilocybin and its active metabolite psilocin have highlighted their unique psychedelic properties and potential therapeutic applications, particularly in the rapid and sustained treatment of depression. However, the potent acute psychedelic effects of psilocybin necessitate a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms ...
ABSTRACT Acyloxymethyl (ACOM) derivatives of tryptamines such as the psychedelic drug psilocin and the anti-migraine drug sumatriptan bear potential as prodrugs. Previous synthetic approaches suffer from insufficient chemoselectivity between the desired functionalization of the phenolic (psilocin) or sulfonamide (sumatriptan) groups versus other reactive gro...
ABSTRACT Three novel 14 C-labelled isotopologues of the psychoactive agents psilocin, psilocybin and 5-methoxy- N, N -dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) were synthesised, all labelled at the 2-position of the indole. The syntheses involved incorporating the 3-dimethylaminoethyl substituent common to all three substances onto a 4- or 5-substituted indole intermed...
IntroductionNatural hallucinogens derived from fungi and animals have been used for centuries in shamanic, ritualistic, and medicinal practices across diverse cultures. These compounds exhibit a widerange of structures and mechanisms of action, affecting various neurotransmitter systems pathways. Fungal hallucinogens, primarily indole alkaloids like psilocyb...
BACKGROUND: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is a promising treatment for various psychiatric disorders. However, the exact biological and psychological mechanisms of action of PAP remain to be determined. Examining predictors of PAP outcomes may help identify necessary processes for positive treatment outcomes. Mystical experiences are considered a k...
Psilocybin (PSIL) is a psychedelic drug and a promising experimental therapeutic for many psychiatric conditions. Precision functional mapping (PFM) combines densely repeated resting state fMRI sampling and individual-specific network mapping to improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and effect size in brain imaging research. We present a randomized cross-over ...
BACKGROUND: The psychedelic psilocybin has been posited as efficacious for the treatment of depression. However, the potential link between the intensity of acute psychedelic effects and long-term therapeutic outcomes remains undiscovered. Moreover, the impact of classical antidepressant drugs that modulate serotonergic activity on psilocybin's effects is a ...
RATIONALE: The head twitch response (HTR) is a spontaneously occurring behavior in mice that is increased in frequency by serotonergic psychedelics. The mouse HTR is often used as a proxy for psychedelic-like drug effects, but limited information is available about sex differences in HTRs evoked by various classes of psychedelics (i.e., phenethylamines, lyse...
Psychedelic compounds are emerging treatments for depression, capable of producing rapid and lasting symptom reduction after 1-2 administrations in the context of psychotherapy - a stark contrast to traditional antidepressants. Despite promising outcomes, the mechanisms underlying psychedelics' reported antidepressant effects remain poorly understood and are...
Psychotherapy in combination with pharmacological treatments is often used to treat affective symptoms in patients with cancer. However, the effectiveness of the most commonly used medications is limited by the risk of adverse effects. Two placebo-controlled trials have found that patients with cancer-related psychiatric distress experienced rapid and susta...
Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors were one of the first serotonin receptors to be pharmacologically characterized. In mammals, they are expressed throughout the body in nearly every cell and tissue type, with the highest density in cortical layer V of the brain. They are involved in several aspects of normal physiological processes and behaviors and have been impli...
