Intravenous psilocybin attenuates mechanical hypersensitivity in a rat model of chronic pain

Abstract

There is a renewed interest in psychedelic drugs as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. In particular, psilocybin has shown promise for the treatment of refractory depression 1 and major depressive disorder 2 , and has also been explored as a treatment for tobacco and alcohol abuse 3 , 4 . However, despite suggestive evidence 5 , 6 , there has been no systematic study to investigate the effectiveness of psilocybin in attenuating indices of chronic pain. To address this gap, we investigated the effect of psilocybin on mechanical hypersensitivity and thermal hyperalgesia in a well-established rat model of formalin-induced, centralized chronic pain 7 , 8 and demonstrate that a single intravenous bolus administration of psilocybin can attenuate mechanical hypersensitivity for 28 days.