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for educational and safety purposes
Psilocybin and Psilocin both come up in the same conversations; they overlap on Serotonin and 5-HT2A receptor. Psilocybin: Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the principal psychoactive alkaloid of the Psilocybe genus of mushrooms and one of the most clinically researched classic psychedelics. Psilocin: Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the active tryptamine responsible for the effects of psilocybin mushrooms, formed in the body when psilocybin is dephosphorylated after ingestion.
Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the principal psychoactive alkaloid of the Psilocybe genus of mushrooms and one of the most clinically researched classic psychedelics. It is itself essentially inactive and functions as a prodrug: after ingestion it is rapidly dephosphorylated by alkaline phosphatase to psilocin, the tryptamine that actually crosses into the brain and drives the experience through agonism at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. In controlled clinical trials, psilocybin combined with psychological support has shown rapid and sometimes durable antidepressant effects, including a head-to-head study against the antidepressant escitalopram, alongside signals in anxiety, substance use disorders, and end-of-life distress. Neuroimaging suggests its antidepressant action may involve a transient global increase in brain network integration that outlasts the acute drug effect. It is generally physiologically well tolerated, with nausea and headache the most common adverse effects.
Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is the active tryptamine responsible for the effects of psilocybin mushrooms, formed in the body when psilocybin is dephosphorylated after ingestion. Structurally a close relative of serotonin, it acts as an agonist or partial agonist at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, the defining target of the classic psychedelics, with additional activity at 5-HT2C and 5-HT1A subtypes. Its lipophilicity lets it cross the blood-brain barrier readily and reach the brain within minutes, producing a psychedelic experience lasting several hours. Beyond acute receptor signaling, psilocin promotes markers of neuronal plasticity, and a compelling recent finding is that lipophilic psychedelics like psilocin can reach intracellular 5-HT2A receptors that serotonin itself cannot access, a mechanism proposed to underlie their durable therapeutic effects. It is the molecule that ultimately mediates psilocybin's clinical antidepressant activity.
both fingerprints on one instrument; where the marks line up the two compounds work the same lever, where a slot goes dark only one of them touches it. read straight from each entry's affinity table; nothing here is invented.
agonist (via psilocin)
agonist / partial agonist
agonist (via psilocin)
agonist
agonist (via psilocin)
agonist
substrate (dephosphorylation to psilocin)
activation (lipophilic access)
strengths are the entries' qualitative ratings (strong / moderate / weak); Ki and EC50 figures appear where an entry records them.