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Psilocybine - Science topic

Psilocybine is the major of two hallucinogenic components of Teonanacatl, the sacred mushroom of Mexico, the other component being psilocin. (From Merck Index, 11th ed)
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1. How Long does it Take for Tamoxifen to activate Cre and knock out the gene of interest
2. What would the dosing regimen be for rats/mice?
I am designing an experiment where I will be knocking out 5-HT2A receptors in a cell type-specific manner before psilocybin administration to determine the necessity of 5-HT2A receptors in psilocybin's neuroplastic effects.
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Tamoxifen free base seems most frequently to be given in corn oil i.p. in, for example, CreER conditional KO mice. We have routinely used tamoxifen citrate which can be formulated in aqueous vehicles for i.p. injections (such as 0.5% methycellulose). In our experience this protocol is much more humane for the mice, and the citrate salt can be dosed at between 5 and 20mg/kg, rather than the 100mg/kg or more frequently used for the free base. Oral dosing leads to lower bioavailability, and mice don't like tamoxifen food pellets and in some cases will refuse to eat them at all.
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A client's depression has not been alleviated although she has been completely compliant with treatment. She has no family history of other mental illnesses. She has tried pharmaceuticals (Prozac, Wellbutrin), diet changes, exercise, meditation, and lifestyle changes for the last 30+ years and now wants to be off of antidepressants. Since psilocybin is still not approved clinically for depression, she wants to be able to legally participate in a study she believes could help many people including herself.
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Hi all,
For the Brazilians (or researchers who live in Brazil) out there: where can I buy purified psilocybin in Brazil? I need to conduct a study with different doses of psilocybin, but I can't find the purified substance. I was only able to find dry shrooms for purchase, but since I don't really know the psilocybin concentration of each one of the pills, I was hoping someone could help me finding the actual psilocybin... Also, if anyone has protocols to conduct research using this substance on C57BL/6 mice, I would really appreciate! Thanks a lot.
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Hi João,
You may make an inquiry at Alfa Chemistry, they offer kinds of good-quality chemicals.
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I am curious about whether or not there are potential benefits to psilocybin when relating to substance abuse and addiction treatment? Due to certain factors there has been a limited amount of research but I would love to learn more about this topic.
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Hi,
There are some investigative use in Depression and Anxiety:Also in Addiction.
Johnson MW, Griffiths RR. Potential Therapeutic Effects of Psilocybin. Neurotherapeutics. 2017 Jul;14(3):734-740. doi: 10.1007/s13311-017-0542-y
Nutt D. Psychedelic drugs-a new era in
psychiatry?
. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2019;21(2):139-147. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2019.21.2/dnutt
Kvam TM, Stewart LH, Andreassen OA. Psychedelic drugs in the treatment of anxiety, depression and addiction. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2018 Nov 12;138(18). English, Norwegian. doi: 10.4045/tidsskr.17.1110
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Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of mushroom.
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This kind of research requires coordination between the DEA, NIDA, and FDA as this is a Class I controlled substance. Your state may also have specific requirements for Class I research too. Benchtop animal studies will be easier than human studies. There are also stringent storage and record keeping requirements for accountability. Good luck.
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Hi, our research team wants to do a pilot-study on psilocybin. Does anyone have any idea on how we can buy this substance? Can anyone help us on international laws on doing these kind of research in Iran?
Previous published researches on psylocibin haven't mentioned how they provided this substance. unfortunately we don't have necessary facilities to synthesis pcylocibin on our own.
thank you in advance.
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Under the United Nations drugs conventions psilocin and psilocybin are controlled drugs, and the UN guidance is that national laws of member states should make these hallucinogenic substances illegal to possess or supply without a license for medical and scientific research. I do not know what the drug laws are in Iran, but in the UK scientists typically find it very difficult to get a Home Office license to conduct research with hallucinogens like those found in the psilocybe mushroom - which was totally banned, in fresh and dried forms, by the UK's 2005 Drugs Act, which made it a Class A and Schedule 1 drug. 
However, one interesting recent avenue involves a report that psilocybin has now been found in a lichen, when it had previously only been identified in psilocybe mushrooms. Depending on the law in Iran (and other countries), it might be more feasible to use lichen rather than fungi as a source of psilocybin - it is worth checking out: http://volteface.me/psychedelic-lichen/