Biotech R & D Institute, University of the West Indies, Mona 99999, Jamaica.
Vilotos Pharmaceuticals Inc., Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
Molecules. 2021 May 15;26(10):2948. doi: 10.3390/molecules26102948.
The psychedelic effects of some plants and fungi have been known and deliberately exploited by humans for thousands of years. Fungi, particularly mushrooms, are the principal source of naturally occurring psychedelics. The mushroom extract, psilocybin has historically been used as a psychedelic agent for religious and spiritual ceremonies, as well as a therapeutic option for neuropsychiatric conditions. Psychedelic use was largely associated with the "hippie" counterculture movement, which, in turn, resulted in a growing, and still lingering, negative stigmatization for psychedelics. As a result, in 1970, the U.S. government rescheduled psychedelics as Schedule 1 drugs, ultimately ending scientific research on psychedelics. This prohibition on psychedelic drug research significantly delayed advances in medical knowledge on the therapeutic uses of agents such as psilocybin. A 2004 pilot study from the University of California, Los Angeles, exploring the potential of psilocybin treatment in patients with advanced-stage cancer managed to reignite interest and significantly renewed efforts in psilocybin research, heralding a new age in exploration for psychedelic therapy. Since then, significant advances have been made in characterizing the chemical properties of psilocybin as well as its therapeutic uses. This review will explore the potential of psilocybin in the treatment of neuropsychiatry-related conditions, examining recent advances as well as current research. This is not a systematic review.
一些植物和真菌的致幻效果已经被人类所知，并被有意利用了数千年。真菌，特别是蘑菇，是天然致幻剂的主要来源。蘑菇提取物 psilocybin 历史上一直被用作宗教和精神仪式的致幻剂，以及神经精神疾病的治疗选择。致幻剂的使用在很大程度上与“嬉皮士”反文化运动有关，而反文化运动反过来又导致了致幻剂的负面污名化日益加剧，至今仍挥之不去。因此，1970 年，美国政府将致幻剂重新列为附表 1 药物，最终结束了对致幻剂的科学研究。这种对迷幻药物研究的禁令极大地阻碍了医学知识在诸如 psilocybin 等药物治疗用途上的进步。2004 年，加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校进行的一项试点研究探索了 psilocybin 治疗晚期癌症患者的潜力，成功地重新激发了人们的兴趣，并大大推动了 psilocybin 研究，迎来了探索迷幻疗法的新时代。此后，在描述 psilocybin 的化学特性及其治疗用途方面取得了重大进展。这篇综述将探讨 psilocybin 在治疗神经精神相关疾病方面的潜力，研究最近的进展和当前的研究。这不是一篇系统综述。
