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This Psychedelic Was Linked To A Surprising Change In People With Parkinson’s
Research on psychedelics like psilocybin often focuses on mental health, particularly depression and anxiety.
But could these compounds also affect what's happening inside the body? Parkinson's disease affects movement and is associated with inflammation and cellular stress.
In a small pilot trial1 published in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers examined blood samples from people with Parkinson's to explore whether psilocybin was linked to changes in these biological processes.
About the study
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, studied 12 adults ages 40 to 75 with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease and mood symptoms.
Participants received two doses of synthetic psilocybin, 10 milligrams followed by 25 milligrams about two weeks later.
Researchers collected blood samples from nine participants before treatment, one day after each dose, and 30 days after the second dose.
They measured five markers of inflammation and two markers associated with mitochondrial stress. Mitochondria are structures inside cells that help produce energy.
The trial had no placebo group, so everyone received psilocybin.
Psilocybin was linked to lower inflammation markers
Researchers combined five blood markers into an overall inflammation score. These markers included:
- Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8): Immune proteins involved in the body's inflammatory response.
- Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ): Proteins that help regulate immune activity.
- C-reactive protein (CRP): A blood protein that rises when inflammation increases.
Compared with participants' measurements before treatment, the combined inflammation score was significantly lower at all three follow-ups, including 30 days after the final dose. IL-6, IL-8, and CRP also decreased significantly one day after the first dose.
Researchers also measured two proteins associated with mitochondrial stress, which can indicate how cells are responding to strain:
- Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15): A protein that can rise when cells are under stress, including stress affecting mitochondria. Levels decreased significantly after each dose, but the change was no longer significant 30 days later.
- Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21): A hormone involved in regulating metabolism that can also change in response to cellular and mitochondrial stress. Levels increased after both doses, but the changes weren't statistically significant.
Overall, the blood tests showed changes in several inflammation markers and one cellular-stress marker after psilocybin treatment.
However, these results don't establish that inflammation or mitochondrial stress throughout the body decreased.
According to the researchers, this was the first report of changes in these types of markers after psychedelic treatment in people with a neurodegenerative disease.
Why these findings don't mean psilocybin treats Parkinson's
Lower inflammation markers don't necessarily mean better health, and the study didn't establish that psilocybin improved symptoms or slowed disease progression.
Only 12 people completed the trial, with blood samples available from nine. Without a placebo group, researchers couldn't determine whether psilocybin caused the changes.
Sleep, stress, and other factors may have played a role, and some findings could have occurred by chance.
Blood tests also can't show exactly what's happening in the brain or whether a person is feeling or functioning better.
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What people living with Parkinson's can do now
Psilocybin isn't an established treatment for Parkinson's, but these results support a need for further research. And, there are practical steps you can take while research continues:
- Talk to your healthcare team: If you're interested in psychedelic therapy, discuss it with your neurologist before considering it. Psilocybin's interactions with Parkinson's medications, including levodopa, aren't well understood, and its legal status varies by location.
- Don't experiment on your own: Supervised clinical trials have safeguards that self-treatment doesn't. Ask your healthcare team whether any legitimate clinical trials may be appropriate for you.
- Keep movement in your routine: Exercise is one of the better-studied ways to help manage Parkinson's symptoms. Ask a healthcare professional or physical therapist to tailor activities to your mobility, symptoms, and abilities.
- Watch for stronger evidence: Larger, controlled trials will help determine whether psilocybin's effects on blood markers are reproducible and whether they translate into meaningful health benefits.
The takeaway
Psilocybin may be doing something measurable when it comes to inflammation and mitochondrial health, but researchers haven't yet connected those changes to feeling or functioning better. For now, it's a promising research question, not a proven treatment.