Substance Use Disorders (SUD)Medicinal Chemistry & Drug DevelopmentPsilocybin

The pharmacology of psilocybin

This study (2002) details the pharmacology of psilocybin.

Authors

  • Thomas Passie

Published

Addiction Biology
meta Study

Abstract

Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the major psychoactive alkaloid of some species of mushrooms distributed worldwide.These mushrooms represent a growing problem regarding hallucinogenic drug abuse. Despite its experimental medical use in the 1960s, only very few pharmacological data about psilocybin were known until recently. Because of its still growing capacity for abuse and the widely dispersed data this review presents all the available pharmacological data about psilocybin.

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Research Summary of 'The pharmacology of psilocybin'

Introduction

Psilocybin-containing mushrooms are described as one of the major hallucinogenic drugs of abuse worldwide, with a growing user population and a range of reported psychiatric complications. Although synthetic psilocybin (Indocybin®) was manufactured and used experimentally in the 1960s, the authors note that until recently pharmacological data were limited and widely dispersed across older and newer studies. Passie and colleagues set out to collate and review the available pharmacological information on psilocybin, emphasising human pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic findings from recent psychophysiological studies alongside earlier experimental and clinical reports. The review explicitly excludes a detailed characterisation of the complex psychopathological phenomena induced by the drug and focuses on pharmacology and safety-related data.

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Study Details

References (1)

Papers cited by this study that are also in Blossom

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