Psilocybin may protect nerves from chemotherapy damage — mouse study
Psilocybin — a psychoactive compound found in some mushrooms — may prevent chemotherapy-induced damage to peripheral nerves. This effect was shown in an early study in mice published in the journal Science, Live Science reports.
This concerns chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. It can cause pain, numbness, burning sensations, as well as increased sensitivity to cold and touch. According to Thomas Strouse, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study, this side effect occurs in about one-third to one-half of people receiving certain types of chemotherapy. In severe cases, doctors have to reduce the treatment dose or stop it.
Experiment results
Researchers studied mice that were given cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug that often causes neuropathy. The animals received two doses of psilocybin: nine and two days before their first chemotherapy session. According to the study authors, this completely prevented the development of increased sensitivity, reduced sensitivity to cold, and helped preserve nerve endings in the skin. The protective effect persisted through six chemotherapy cycles.
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Possible mechanism
The team also conducted experiments with human sensory neurons and peripheral nerves removed during surgery. The results pointed to a possible role of mitochondrial transport inside nerve cells. Mitochondria produce energy for cells, and in long peripheral nerves they must move along microtubules to nerve endings.
In experiments with human neurons, cisplatin reduced the amount of mitochondria and adenosine triphosphate in nerve processes. Psilocybin did not restore the overall ability of mitochondria to produce energy, but it preserved their movement and normal levels of adenosine triphosphate specifically in nerve processes. The effect depended on the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A. The compound TBG, designed to activate this receptor without hallucinations, also protected mice from neuropathy.
Study co-author Moran Amit, a surgical oncologist and researcher at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, stressed that psilocybin has not yet been tested to prevent this complication in humans. His team is preparing a clinical trial. Thomas Strouse also cautioned that different chemotherapy drugs may damage nerves through different mechanisms, so the cisplatin results may not necessarily apply to other treatment regimens.
