Chemistry of Psilocybin and Synaptic Transmitters Involved :: Chemical Drugs Drug papers

Chemistry of Psilocybin and Synaptic Transmitters Involved Psilocybin is a type of hallucinogenic mushroom that is ingested by eating the raw fungi. The mushroom can also be made into a tea and drunk. In some of the later studies done on psilocybin, the drug was synthetically produced and then either inhaled or injected by an IV. The drug enters the blood stream and can cross the blood brain barrier because of it relative metabolic similarity to serotonin (Fuller 1985). This means that since psilocybin is chemical resemblance to the neurotransmitter serotonin, psilocybin can trick the protein channels embedded in the membrane of the blood vessel and pass through as if it were serotonin and not a drug. Psilocybin (4phosphodimethyltryptamine or N, N dimethyltryptamine (DMT)) is a naturally occurring indoleamine hallucinogen and is metabolized to psilocin after ingestion (Umbricht, Koller, Vollenweider, Schmid, 2001). Psilocin is the active chemical in the plant and it is what causes hallucinations and other behavioral changes in the individual taking the substance. It is stated that psilocybin is used in research because it is short-acting, naturally occurring and draws less attention then other well-know hallucinogens (Strassman 1996). There are not many studies done with human subjects so the majority of data has been collected with animals (rats in particular). In many articles the effects, both neurological and behavioral are likened to the effects of the hallucinogen LSD. The hallucinogen psilocybin is considered to be a monoamine related substance that is mediated by the effects of activity by serotonergic systems in the central nervous system (Grilly 1998). When talking about the serotonergic systems that are affected by the drug Psilocybin the research is focusing on the central systems and not the periphery nerve networks. The drug is considered to be part of the indolealkylamine group and is classified in the chemical class of tryptamines. A number of indolealkylamines that are hallucinogenic can be divided into three basic groups, tryptamine derivatives, beta-carbolines, and lysergic acid derivatives (Glennon 1985, Nichols and Glennon 1984). Psilocybin is tryptamine derived. The indole nucleus of serotonin is commonly found in the chemical class of tryptamines (Abraham, Aldridge, Gogia 1996). Psilocybin in one of the best studied tryptamine derivatives and is related to other indolealkylamines that are derived from various plants (Nichols and Glennon 1996).