Ketamine therapy is effective in alleviating symptoms of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety; however, its increasing recreational use raises concerns about potential abuse. Hericium erinaceus mycelium, which contains the bioactive compound erinacine A, has shown promise in promoting brain health. This study investigated whether H. erinaceus mycelium and erinacine A could...
The psychedelic mushroom market has expanded rapidly due to changing regulations and increasing consumer demand. Product diversity now extends beyond traditional capsules and tablets to include gummies, powders, and confectionery items, complicating quality control efforts. To assess the quality and potential adulteration of Amanita musca-ria and Psilocybe cubensis-based products, a validated...
Current drug policy classifies psilocybin, a compound found in psychoactive mushrooms, as having high abuse potential while overlooking its therapeutic properties. We evaluated the risk of psilocybin mushrooms to Brazilian public health compared to other toxic agents and assessed the need for regulatory discussions. This retrospective cross-sectional study followed STROBE guidelines, using data...
The English mycological and toxicological literature has, for decades, asserted that muscarine concentrations in Amanita muscaria are insignificant based on a study from the 1950s that demonstrated muscarine levels in fresh A. muscaria mushrooms at a meager 0.0003%. This position has been maintained despite frequent reports of cholinergic symptoms following consumption of this mushroom and...
Herbal products found in nature can serve as great systems of study for drug design. The Amanita muscaria mushroom is native to many parts of the Northern Hemisphere and has a very distinctive appearance with its red cap and white spotted warts. The mushroom comprises several pharmacologically active alkaloids, including muscazone, muscarine, ibotenic acid, and muscimol, the latter two...
Psilocybin is a psychoactive alkaloid that is produced naturally by approximately 200 species of mushrooms. The potential medical use of this molecule for the treatment of mental illness is gaining renewed momentum. As demand grows and clinical trials progress, appropriate methods for producing a quality pharmaceutical product are needed. This review highlights the methods currently available,...
Guatemala, located in Central America, has a long and rich history in the traditional use of edible, medicinal, and hallucinogenic mushrooms. This article describes the use of these mushrooms and presents studies on the scientific validation of native and foreign species.
This paper is a review of the new studies or new explanations of the hallucinogenic mushrooms, regarding their diversity, history, traditions, and problems in their recreational use, new taxonomic studies, and their modern applications in medicine, all of them since the 1970s to the present.
The subtropical Japanese bluing mushroom Psilocybe subcaerulipes, described by Hongo, has several synonyms: P. argentipes by Yokoyama (also from Japan), P. taiwanensis by Guzman and Yang (from Taiwan), and P. thaizapoteca by Guzman, Ramirez-Guillen, and Karunaratna (from Thailand). The study of the holotypes and others specimens of these mushrooms shows that they have basidiospores,...
Indole alkaloids of Psilocybe cubensis have been reported to be the potential candidates for drug discovery in central nervous system (CNS) disorders. In this research, the effect of the harvesting light on increasing the active alkaloids of P. cubensis was investigated. Three different lighting conditions, that is, dim daylight, indirect daylight, and darkness were used to harvest the...
Mycetism or mycetismus (mushroom poisoning) is caused by toxins present in the basidiomata even after it is properly cooked. There are mainly seven different types of poisoning syndromes (Phalloides syndrome, Orellanus syndrome, Gyromitra syndrome, Muscarin syndrome, Pantherina syndrome, Psilocybin syndrome, and Gastrointestinal syndrome), along with Paxillus syndrome and coprine syndrome. The...
The author presents his research on ethnology of psychoactive mushrooms developed during the last 20 years. In the core of the Sahara Desert, on a group of rock paintings, dating back to 9000-7000 B.R., mushroom effigies are represented repeatedly. The polychromic scenes of harvest, adoration, and the offering of mushrooms lead to suppose we are dealing with an ancient hallucinogenic mushroom...
The neurotropic effect of Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Sing, dried biomass and fruiting bodies containing the indole hallucinogens psilocybin and psilocine on spike activity of pyramidal neurons from the rat hippocampal CAl region slices has been studied. Extracellularly responses of 50 neurons were recorded, 34 during the application of biomass extract (BME) and 16 during the application of...