Research on Acute Toxicity and the Behavioral Effects of Methanolic Extract from Psilocybin Mushrooms and Psilocin in Mice
Toxins March 27, 2015 О. В. Жук, Іzabela Jasicka-Misiak, Anna Poliwoda et al. 64 citations
Psilocin and dried extracts from Psilocybe semilanceata and Pholiotina cyanopus mushrooms collected in northeastern Poland were tested in mice for toxicity and effects on the serotonergic system. Pure psilocin was most toxic, with an LD50 of 293.07 mg/kg, while extracts from Ph. cyanopus and P. semilanceata had LD50 values of 316.87 mg/kg and 324.37 mg/kg, respectively. In behavioral head-twitch response tests, a 1 mg/kg dose of psilocin reduced head-twitches by about 46% compared to a 5-HTP control, and mushroom extracts reduced them by about 30%. Psilocin acted as a partial agonist on the serotonergic system.