Mushrooms may have the answers to treat depression

Shanghai researchers are using a certain kind of psychedelic found in mushrooms to treat depression.

Psychedelic drugs are controversial and are illegal in most countries, including the US. Despite that, they emerged as an alternative for treating depression, with psilocybin, a natural psychedelic extracted from psychedelic mushrooms, being the most promising.

It was found to greatly lessen the severity of the symptoms within a day, offering hope to millions. In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration granted psilocybin therapy a breakthrough status for major depressive disorder and drug-resistant depression.

However, it was a psychedelic drug, which cramped further research and application. With global scientists seeking to thrash out a suitable compromise, Shanghai scientists have led the way.

They analyzed psilocin, an active metabolite of psilocybin, and designed new compounds based on it. Early trial results were positive and showed no hallucinatory side effects. It has offered a new approach to new-generation remedy for depression.

The researchers, led by Wang Sheng from the Center for Excellent in Molecular Cell Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Cheng Jianjun, from the iHuman Institute at ShanghaiTech University, have published their findings in the journal "Science."

Depression is a common illness worldwide, with nearly 280 million people, or 3.8 percent of the global population, affected by it, according to the World Health Organization website.

Commonly prescribed antidepressants remain the most popular mode of treatment, but their effects are slow, usually taking several weeks or even months.

A third of the refractory depression patients do not respond to anti-depressants.