Psilocybin, and its metabolite psilocin, induces psychedelic effects through activation of the 5-HT2A receptor. Psilocybin has been proposed as a treatment for depression and anxiety but sometimes induces anxiety in humans. An understanding of mechanisms underlying the anxiety response will help to better develop therapeutic prospects of psychedelics. In the...
BACKGROUND: The primary psychoactive drug in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, induces profound alterations in consciousness through the 5-HT2A receptor. This review consolidates current research findings to elucidate the pharmacology, safety profile, and clinical applications of psilocybin. AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY: Despite initial concerns that psilocybin could cau...
The growing interest in the rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine and classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, is remarkable. However, both ketamine and psychedelics are known to induce acute mystical experiences; ketamine can cause dissociative symptoms such as out-of-body experience, while psychedelics typicall...
Psychedelics are quite unique among drugs that impact the central nervous system, as a single administration of a psychedelic can both rapidly alter subjective experience in profound ways and produce sustained effects on circuits relevant to mood, fear, reward, and cognitive flexibility. These remarkable properties are a direct result of psychedelics interac...
Serotonin emerges as a pivotal factor influencing the growth and functionality of β-cells. Psilocybin, a natural compound derived from mushrooms of the Psilocybe genus, exerts agonistic effects on the serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptors, thereby mimicking serotonin’s behavior. This study investigates the potential impacts of psilocybin on β-cell viability,...
Psilocybin, an innate compound produced by mushrooms belonging to the Psilocybe genus, is primarily known for its agonistic effects on the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. This receptor’s functioning is involved in many neurological processes. In the context of this research, our primary aim was to comprehensively investigate the influence of psilocybin as a serot...
LSD, psilocybin and mescaline are widely used for recreational and ethnomedical purposes. All three substances are thought to induce prototypical psychedelic effects primarily via stimulation of the 5-HT2A receptor. However, there are differences in the substances' molecular structures and receptor activation profiles which may induce differential subjective...
Recent clinical breakthroughs hold great promise for the application of psilocybin in the treatments of psychological disorders, such as depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psilocybin is a psychedelic whose metabolite, psilocin, is a 5-HT2A receptor agonist. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms for the effects of psilocybin on the br...
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and ketamine are returning to clinical research and intervention across several disorders including the treatment of depression. This chapter focusses on psychedelics that specifically target the 5-HT2A receptor such as psilocybin and DMT. These produce plasma-concentration related psychological effects such as hallucinat...
Psilocybin analogues have been synthesized comprising a non-hydrolysable P-C bond to evaluate the biological activity and the selectivity towards 5-HT2A R, 5-HT2B R and the TNAP receptor.
Background: The primary psychoactive drug in magic mushrooms, psilocybin induces profound alterations in consciousness through its action at the 5-HT2A receptor. This comprehensive review consolidates current research findings to elucidate the pharmacology, safety profile, and clinical applications of psilocybin.Areas of Uncertainty: Despite initial concerns...
Background: The primary psychoactive drug in magic mushrooms, psilocybin induces profound alterations in consciousness through its action at the 5-HT2A receptor. This comprehensive review consolidates current research findings to elucidate the pharmacology, safety profile, and clinical applications of psilocybin. Areas of Uncertainty: Despite initial concern...
Psychedelics belong to the oldest psychoactive drugs. They arouse recent interest due to their therapeutic applications in the treatment of major depressive disorder, substance use disorder, end-of-life anxiety,= and anxiety symptoms, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this review, the current state of preclinical research on the mechanism of action, neur...
Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the development and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), by contributing to tissue damage and exacerbating the immune response. The investigation of serotonin receptor 2A (5-HT2A) ligands and transient receptor potential (TRP) channel ligands is of significant interest due to their potential to modulate key in...
Psilocybin has shown promise for alleviating symptoms of depression and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN), a condition that is characterised by persistent cognitive inflexibility. Considering that enhanced cognitive flexibility after psilocybin treatment is reported to occur in individuals with depression, it is plaus...
Psychedelics make up a group of psychoactive compounds that induce hallucinogenic effects by activating the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR). Clinical trials have demonstrated the traditional psychedelic substances like psilocybin as a class of rapid-acting and long-lasting antidepressants. However, there is a pressing need for rationally designed 5-HT2AR ago...
Previous studies suggested effectiveness of psilocybin in the field of mental health. FDA designated psilocybin as a "breakthrough therapy" for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in 2018. This paper provided a review of psilocybin's potential role in treatment of depression by focusing on published clinical trials. Studies showed that psil...
Psilocybe mushrooms, otherwise known as “magic” mushrooms, owe their psychedelic effect to psilocin, a serotonin subtype 2A (5-HT2A ) receptor agonist and metabolite of psilocybin, the primary indole alkaloid found in Psilocybe species. Metabolomics is an advanced fingerprinting tool that can be utilized to identify the differences among fungal life stages t...
Since its emergence in the 1960s, the serotonergic theory of depression bore fruit in the discovery of a plethora of antidepressant drugs affecting the lives of millions of patients. While crucial in the history of drug development, recent studies undermine the effectiveness of currently used antidepressant drugs in comparison to placebo, emphasizing the lon...