Behavioural and pharmacological evaluation of the psilocybin analogue baeocystin in Wistar rats.
Hynek Danda, Kristýna Mazochová, Klára Šíchová, Vladimír Mazoch, Lucie Olejníková-Ladislavová, Kateřina Syrová, Bronislav Jurásek, Petra Cihlářová, Radek Jurok, Tomáš Páleníček, Martin Kuchař
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry July 5, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111439 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractBaeocystin, a compound found in psychoactive mushrooms, has minimal to no behavioral effects in rats, likely because it poorly crosses the blood-brain barrier. After subcutaneous doses of 1.25 or 5 mg/kg, baeocystin and its metabolite norpsilocin showed very limited brain penetration. Consistent with this, the compound had no significant effects on locomotor activity, exploratory behavior, anxiety-like responses, or sensorimotor gating in Wistar rats. The findings suggest baeocystin's negligible neurobiological and psychedelic activity is due to its poor permeability across the blood-brain barrier.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Animal study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Wistar rats |
| Intervention | Baeocystin |
| Dose | 1.25 or 5 mg/kg |
| Keywords | Open field Pharmacokinetics Prepulse inhibition Wistar rats Baeocystin compound |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Baeocystin had no significant effects on locomotor activity, exploratory behavior, anxiety-like responses, or sensorimotor gating in rats, consistent with its poor permeability across the blood-brain barrier. |
Abstract
Baeocystin is a naturally occurring tryptamine-based compound found in various psychoactive mushrooms, including in several species of Psilocybe genus. Due to its structural similarity to psilocybin, which has shown a therapeutic potential in treatment of psychiatric disorders, there is a growing interest in investigating whether baeocystin exhibits comparable effects. This study investigated the pharmacokinetic profile and acute behavioural effects of baeocystin in Wistar rats. Behavioural assessments including locomotor activity and its spatial characteristics (in the open field test) and sensorimotor gating measured by prepulse inhibition were evaluated after subcutaneous administration of 1.25 or 5 mg/kg baeocystin. Pharmacokinetics and brain-serum ratios were analysed after the 5 mg/kg sc. dose. Pharmacokinetics demonstrated that both baeocystin and its metabolite, norpsilocin, have a very limited ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Consistent with the pharmacokinetic profile, baeocystin had no significant effects on locomotor activity, exploratory behaviour, anxiety-like responses, or sensorimotor gating at doses of either 1.25 or 5 mg/kg. In conclusion, our results suggest that baeocystin has minimal to no behavioural effects in rats, probably due to its poor permeability across the blood-brain barrier. This limited penetration may account for its negligible neurobiological and psychedelic activity.