A single dose of psilocybin – the active compound in magic mushrooms – reduces nerve pain for up to a month and makes a widely used painkiller work more effectively, according to University of Reading research.
The study, published in Communication Biology, tested psilocybin in mice with nerve damage causing long-term pain. The researchers found that the pain-relieving effect of psilocybin appeared about two hours after the injection, with relief lasting several weeks. Rather than simply blocking pain signals, psilocybin appears to rewire the way the brain’s pain-processing networks work, which may explain why its effects persist long after the drug itself has left the body.
The most important finding was how psilocybin interacted with gabapentin, a drug widely prescribed for nerve pain. When gabapentin was given to mice weeks after a single dose of psilocybin, after the analgesic effect of psilocybin itself had worn off, it produced pain relief that lasted up to four days. In mice that had not received psilocybin, the effect of gabapentin was much weaker.
Between 30 and 50 percent of people with nerve pain do not get adequate relief from gabapentin alone.
Millions of people live with nerve pain that their medications just don’t control well enough, and the medications we do have can cause serious side effects or lead to addiction. What’s fascinating here is that psilocybin doesn’t just reduce pain on its own. It appears to reset the brain’s pain networks in a way that makes existing treatments significantly more effective. For patients who have run out of options, this could be truly transformative.”
Dr. Maria Maiarú, Senior Author, University of Reading
The relieving effect was confirmed in both male and female mice, which is significant given that much early pain research was conducted only in male animals. The study used a small number of mice in accordance with UK Home Office regulations and the principles of the 3Rs of Replacement, Reduction and Optimization. Procedures were designed to minimize distress and, where possible, multiple results were measured from the same animals to reduce numbers.
