ALSUntangled #77: Psilocybin

Bhavya Bakshi; Sandeep Yerraguntla; Carmel Armon; Paul Barkhaus; Tulio Bertorini; Robert Bowser; Sarah Breevoort; Mark Bromberg; Andrew Brown; Gregory T Carter; Vincent Chang; Jesse Crayle; Timothy Fullam; Maxwell Greene; Terry Heiman-Patterson; Carlayne Jackson; Sartaj Jhooty; Elise Mallon; Javier Mascias Cadavid; Christopher J Mcdermott; Gary Pattee; Kaitlyn Pierce; Dylan Ratner; Yuyao Sun; Olivia Wang; Paul Wicks; Martina Wiedau; Richard Bedlack

doi:10.1080/21678421.2024.2441274

ALSUntangled #77: Psilocybin

Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. 2024 Dec 22:1-4. doi: 10.1080/21678421.2024.2441274. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Bhavya Bakshi¹, Sandeep Yerraguntla¹, Carmel Armon², Paul Barkhaus³, Tulio Bertorini⁴, Robert Bowser⁵, Sarah Breevoort⁶, Mark Bromberg⁷, Andrew Brown⁸, Gregory T Carter⁹, Vincent Chang¹⁰, Jesse Crayle¹¹, Timothy Fullam¹², Maxwell Greene¹³, Terry Heiman-Patterson¹⁴, Carlayne Jackson¹⁵, Sartaj Jhooty¹⁶, Elise Mallon¹⁷, Javier Mascias Cadavid¹⁸, Christopher J Mcdermott¹⁹, Gary Pattee²⁰, Kaitlyn Pierce²¹, Dylan Ratner²², Yuyao Sun²³, Olivia Wang²⁴, Paul Wicks²⁵, Martina Wiedau²⁶, Richard Bedlack¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Medical School, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA.
² Department of Neurology, Shamir Medical Center, Tzrifin, Israel.
³ Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
⁷ Department of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
⁸ Department of Neurology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
⁹ Department of Rehabilitation, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Neurology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Neurology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹² Department of Neurology, Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX, USA.
¹³ Department of Neurology and Neurosciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Temple Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Neurology, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹⁷ Undergraduate, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁸ ALS Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital La Paz Institute for Health Research, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁹ Department of Neuroscience, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
²⁰ Department of Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
²¹ Department of Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
²² Undergraduate, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
²³ Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
²⁴ Independent Consultant, Wisconsin, USA.
²⁵ Independent Consultant, Lichfield, England, UK, and.
²⁶ Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 39709547
DOI: 10.1080/21678421.2024.2441274

Abstract

ALSUntangled reviews alternate and off-label treatments prompted by patient interest. Here, we review psilocybin, a chemical derived from mushrooms and belonging in the category of drugs known as psychedelics. Psilocybin has plausible mechanisms for slowing ALS progression because of its ability to cross the blood brain barrier and effect neurogenesis and inflammation. Currently, there are no pre-clinical ALS models, case reports, or trials for psilocybin and ALS in the context of disease modifying therapy. Depending on dosing, there can be a high risk of psychological side effects including hallucinations and physical harm. Based on the above information, we do not currently support the use of psilocybin as a means to slow ALS progression.

Keywords: Psilocybin; inflammation; neurogenesis; psychedelics.