Effects and safety of Psilocybe cubensis and Panaeolus cyanescens magic mushroom extracts on endothelin-1-induced hypertrophy and cell injury in cardiomyocytes

Introduction

Heart failure is a major public health problem associated with reduced quality of life and a substantially elevated prevalence of major depression compared with the general population. Previous research has shown that psilocybin, the principal psychoactive compound in so-called magic mushrooms, has antidepressant effects, but the cardiovascular safety of psilocybin-containing mushrooms in conditions such as heart failure is not well established. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor and a recognised inducer of pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy; tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) contributes to cardiac injury and apoptosis. These pathways are relevant to heart failure and to comorbid depression in affected patients, creating a need to evaluate whether mushroom preparations might aggravate or ameliorate cardiac pathology. Nkadimeng and colleagues set out to test whether water extracts of two species commonly used as magic mushrooms, Psilocybe cubensis and Panaeolus cyanescens, affect ET-1-induced hypertrophy and TNF-α-induced cell injury in vitro. The study employed hot-water and cold-water extracts—methods reflecting common routes of human consumption—and used the rat H9C2 cardiomyoblast cell line to assess morphological, biochemical and viability endpoints. The work is presented as the first in vitro evaluation of these species in an ET-1-induced hypertrophy model and aims to provide preliminary safety data relevant to use in patients with heart failure-related depression.