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Potential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin: A Systematic Review - PubMed

  • ️Sat Jan 01 2022

Review

. 2022 Oct 12;14(10):e30214.

doi: 10.7759/cureus.30214. eCollection 2022 Oct.

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Review

Potential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin: A Systematic Review

Dev B Goel et al. Cureus. 2022.

Abstract

Psilocybin is a plant alkaloid that is derived from precursors of tryptamine and is present in many different types of mushrooms. It has been utilized by indigenous peoples of Central and South America for centuries in a ceremonial setting to promote spiritual experiences. Indigenous societies have long employed psilocybin and other 5-HT 2A agonist classic psychedelics in their rites. They were a focus in psychiatry in the middle of the 20th century as both experimental medicines and tools for studying brain function. Due to the fact that traditional psychedelics were being used for purposes other than medical research and in connection with the burgeoning counterculture by the late 1960s and early 1970s, these scientific investigations fell out of favor. However, thanks to a number of encouraging studies that validated the earlier research, interest in traditional psychedelics has surged among scientists in the 21st century. In this review, we examine therapeutic studies on psilocybin, the traditional psychedelic that has received the lion's share of recent attention. According to three controlled studies, psilocybin may reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in the context of cancer-related psychological discomfort for at least six months after a single acute treatment for mood and anxiety disorders. Three months after two acute doses, individuals in a small, open-label study with treatment-resistant depression reported fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms. Small, open-label pilot studies on addiction have demonstrated encouraging success rates for alcohol and cigarette addiction. The review also briefly discusses the synthesis, mechanism of action, effects, molecular pharmacology, adverse effects, and contraindications of psilocybin.

Keywords: addiction; anxiety; cancer; depression; psilocybin; psychedelic.

Copyright © 2022, Goel et al.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Structure of different hallucinogens*

*[3] Auxin: artificially controls plant growth. DMT: N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (elicits intense visual alterations and hallucinations). Serotonin: key function in mood, sleep, and digestion. 5-methoxy-DMT: improvement in anxiety and depression. Melatonin: treats circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Ibogaine: treats drug addiction. Yohimbine: treats erectile dysfunction. Psilocybin: for alcohol use disorder, anxiety, migraines, and PTSD. LSD: lysergic corrosive diethylamide (treats psychosomatic diseases) The author has uploaded the figure on the internet for free use

Figure 2
Figure 2. Transformation of L-tryptophan to psilocybin*

*[6] The author has uploaded the figure on the internet for free use

Figure 3
Figure 3. Relevance of 5-HT2AR signaling to psychedelic drug effects*

*[13] (a) Diagram illustrating the intracellular signaling networks connected to the activation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) and its effectors [11-13]. (b) Biased agonist activity of 5-HT2AR [11-13] The author has uploaded the figure on the internet for free use

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