Pharmacokinetics of Escalating Doses of Oral Psilocybin in Healthy Adults
Clinical Pharmacokinetics March 28, 2017 Randall Brown, Christopher R. Nicholas, Nicholas V. Cozzi et al. 189 citations
Psilocybin is a psychedelic tryptamine being studied for depression and substance use disorders. In an open-label study of 12 healthy adults, escalating oral doses of 0.3, 0.45, and 0.6 mg/kg were given at monthly intervals. No psilocybin was found in plasma or urine; its active metabolite psilocin had an elimination half-life of 3 hours (standard deviation 1.1). Renal clearance of intact psilocin accounted for less than 2% of total clearance, indicating no dose reduction is needed for mild-moderate renal impairment. Body weight did not predict variation in psilocin clearance. No serious adverse events occurred. A fixed 25 mg dose approximates the exposure of a 0.3 mg/kg dose.