Clinical potential of psilocybin as a treatment for mental health conditions

Abstract

Psilocybin, a classic hallucinogen, is a chemical produced by more than 100 species of mushrooms worldwide. It has high affinity for several serotonin receptors, including 5-HT, 5-HT, and 5-HT, located in numerous areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex and thalamus. With legislation introduced in 1992, more work is being done to further understand the implications of psilocybin use in a number of disease states. Certain mental health disease states and symptoms have been studied, including depressed mood, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcohol use disorder, and tobacco use disorder. This article provides an in-depth review of the study design and results of psilocybin in each of these conditions and discusses the clinical potential for use.

Psilacetin derivatives: fumarate salts of the methyl–ethyl, methyl–allyl and diallyl variants of the psilocin prodrug

“…Psychotropic tryptamines have emerged as leading candidates in the treatment of mood disorders, including anxiety, addiction, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Byock, 2018;Daniel & Haberman, 2017). Perhaps the best known of these tryptamines is psilocybin, N,N,N-trimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine (C 12 H 17 N 2 O 4 P), which has recently been cleared for a number of clinical trials after receiving the 'breakthrough therapy' designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (Feltman, 2019).…”

Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir e Anadenanthera colubrina como alternativas no tratamento da adicção às drogas

“…A psilocibina (4-fosforiloxi-N, N-dimetiltriptamina) é uma indolealquilamina substituída e pertence ao grupo das triptaminas alucinógenas (Passie et al, 2002). Como mecanismo de ação a psilocibina liga-se fortemente aos receptores 5-HT2A, porém, também é um agonista moderado dos receptores 5-HT1A e 5-HT2C (Daniel & Haberman, 2018). De forma semelhante aos dados observados com o LSD, a psilocibina também apresentou grande potencial no tratamento de adictos e foi testada na dependência ao cigarro e ao álcool.…”

Quaternary tryptammonium salts:N,N-dimethyl-N-n-propyltryptammonium (DMPT) iodide andN-allyl-N,N-dimethyltryptammonium (DMALT) iodide

“…In 1987, Gartz first identified a quaternary tryptammonium in 'magic mushrooms' when he isolated aeruginascin, N,N,Ntrimethyl-4-phosphoryloxytryptamine (Gartz, 1987). The tryptamines of 'magic mushrooms' have garnered a great deal of interest of late as their psychotropic activity is being explored for the treatment of mental disorders including depression and anxiety (Johnson & Griffiths, 2017;Daniel & Haberman, 2017). Aeruginascin, in particular, has been featured in popular media for its potential to modulate the activity of psilocybin through an entourage effect (Farah, 2018), as well as its possible involvement in wood-lovers paralysis (Revell, 2020).…”