Psilocybin Therapy of Psychiatric Disorders Is Not Hampered by hERG Potassium Channel–Mediated Cardiotoxicity

Abstract

Psilocybin, a hallucinogen contained in “magic” mushrooms, holds great promise for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders, and early clinical trials are encouraging. Adverse cardiac events after intake of high doses of psilocybin and a trial reporting QT interval prolongation in the electrocardiogram attributed to the drug’s main metabolite, psilocin, gave rise to safety concerns. Here we show that clinical concentrations of psilocin do not cause significant human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channel inhibition, a major risk factor for adverse cardiac events. We conclude that hERG channel blockage by psilocin is not liable for psilocybin- associated cardiotoxic effects.

The Theoretical Description for Psilocin Electrochemical Determination over Cobalt Oxyhydroxide

“…The behavior investigation of psilocin CoO(OH)-assisted electrochemical determination is given by equation-set (2) analysis by means of the linear stability theory. The steadystate Jacobian matrix members will be described as (7)…”

“…Its toxic effects include hallucinogenic action [5][6][7], which is dose-related, reason why the development of an efficient electroanalytical process is really actual. Moreover, being an indolic compound, substituted by donor groups, it is interesting as a monomer for a conducting polymer, analogous to those yet synthetized from other indoles [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Cardiovascular safety of psychedelic medicine: current status and future directions

“…In tsA201 cells, psilocin reduced the hERG currents in a concentration-dependent manner. However, in this observation, a 500-fold higher concentration of psilocin than the concentration actually achieved in human plasma in clinical studies was required to produce a relevant inhibition of the hERG channel [92]. Thus, the proarrhythmic effect of psilocybin, resulting in a significant prolongation of the QT interval, appears to occur at high doses or to depend on mechanisms other than inhibiting the hERG current.…”

A Review on the Recent Advancements on Therapeutic Effects of Ions in the Physiological Environments

“…In contrast to certain other minor symptoms, the disease causes somatic symptoms such as decreased appetite (and therefore also weight fluctuations), fatigue, sleep disturbance, decreased libido, motor retardation, and bowel disturbance. Patients suffering from this major depressive disorder are at risk of developing suicidal thoughts [132,133].…”