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

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 depression1 and major depressive disorder2, and has also been explored as a treatment for tobacco and alcohol abuse3,4. However, despite suggestive evidence5,6, 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 pain7,8 and demonstrate that a single intravenous bolus administration of psilocybin can attenuate mechanical hypersensitivity for 28 days.