A Rare Case of Magic Mushroom (Psilocybin) Related AKI and Hypertensive Emergency
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology November 1, 2022 Syed Rizwan A. Bokhari, Ahmed Abdullah, Zamir A. Zamir et al. 2 citations
A 31-year-old woman with well-controlled hypertension and metabolic syndrome developed acute kidney injury and a hypertensive emergency after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms. Her blood pressure reached 210/140, she experienced transient visual loss, and her troponin was elevated above 6000. Laboratory tests showed serum creatinine rising from a baseline of 0.9 to 4.6 mg/dL, proteinuria, and microscopic hematuria. A renal biopsy revealed vascular-predominant acute thrombotic microangiopathy. She was managed conservatively and did not require dialysis, but her kidney function only partially recovered, leaving a new baseline creatinine of 2.2-2.4 mg/dL and chronic kidney disease. Psilocybin can cause acute kidney injury leading to chronic kidney disease and secondary hypertension, possibly through vasoconstriction and endothelial damage.