Impact of Psilocybin on Peripheral Cytokine Production.

Background: Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug with potential therapeutic effects in patients with mood and substance use disorders. Little is known about its impact on the immune system. Methods: Multiplex immunoassay pro-inflammatory cytokine panels (Meso-Scale Discovery, Rockville, MD) were used to examine the serum from participants in three separate randomized controlled clinical trials (randomized controlled trials [RCTs]) wherein a range of doses of psilocybin were administered (methods reported previously). Participants represented a range of clinical histories including those with no-known health problems/long-term meditation practice ( Results: Sera from 91 participants were included from our three prior RCTs. In our linear models of pooled data, sera collected ≤1-week postpsilocybin revealed increased levels of interleukin (IL)-8 (β = 0.164, 95% confidence interval [0.10 to 0.23]; Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that a transient increase in cytokine production ≤1-week postpsilocybin may be found, although not consistently across patient populations. More broadly, peripheral cytokine production is possibly altered by psilocybin administration. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01988311.