Historical Perspectives and Pharmacodynamic Actions of the Magic Mushroom (Psilocybin) for Future Global Healthcare

Many medicines and treatments for varying levels of ailments were found through natural bioactives before complex separation techniques were available. Ironically, as medicine advances, drastically more people seem to be reverting to a desire for these natural bioactives. Due to this, it is important to discover and research the pharmacology of historically used plants and how exactly they can exert their effects. Magic mushrooms are a polyphyletic group of mushrooms that are characterized by the presence of a psychedelic compound (a drug classification that changes mental state and elicits hallucinations), Psilocybin. The PubMed (NIH) database was manually searched for published manuscripts up through the second week of April, 2024 for the current study using an advanced search feature. The keywords used for the search are given below. The search was done using the CDC, NIH and WHO databases. Journal articles, books and book chapters were manually searched under all languages without filter restrictions. Psilocybin has been found to exert a change in many different organ systems of the human body, including the central nervous system, ophthalmic system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, digestive system, excretory system, endocrine system, immune system, integumentary system, auditory system, smooth muscles, skeletal muscles and spinal cord. This is possible through converting Psilocybin to Psilocin in the liver, which is a 5-HT2A agonist. This review profoundly analyzes magic mushrooms historical, current and future uses as they pertain to the human healthcare system. These uses contain nutraceutical, prophylactic and therapeutic pathways. It will also cover the toxicological effects on these organ systems and how dangerous these effects are.