Natural psilocybin-containing mushroom extract might demonstrate superior efficacy compared to chemically synthesized psilocybin, suggest researchers from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Center.
Therapeutic use
In their study, published in the Springer Nature journal Molecular Psychiatry, the plant extract increased the levels of synaptic proteins associated with neuroplasticity in key brain regions, including the frontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and striatum.
The researchers found that psilocybin-containing mushroom extract may offer unique therapeutic effects not achievable with psilocybin alone, tsuch as treating depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia.
Controlled cultivation
Ancient medicinal practices use extracts or entire products, such as consuming the entire mushroom. These practices could open up new possibilities for the therapeutic use of natural psychedelic compounds, the researchers suggest.
However, a major challenge with natural extracts is achieving a consistently stable compound profile with plants, the researchers note. Mushroom compounds are highly influenced by their growing environment, substrate composition, CO2/O2 ratio, light exposure, temperature, and microbial surroundings.
But controlled cultivation may allow for taming the mushrooms, enabling them to produce a replicable extract, the researchers suggest.
Citation: Shahar, O., Botvinnik, A., Shwartz, A. et al. Effect of chemically synthesized psilocybin and psychedelic mushroom extract on molecular and metabolic profiles in mouse brain. Mol Psychiatry (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02477-w (open access)