Luisina Rodriguez

I am Luisina Rodríguez, a graduate student at the Faculty of Chemistry (UDELAR), Montevideo, Uruguay. I graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, focusing early on natural products research. During this period, I developed two experimental works in the Pharmacognosy Department, which resulted in conference presentations and a publication as the first author. Later, I began working in the LCMS laboratory of the Department of Organic Chemistry, where I carried out teaching and research activities in the area of chromatography-mass spectrometry. My interest in psychedelics began with a project on the chemical analysis of Ayahuasca samples in Uruguay, funded by the National Drug Board, whose results were disseminated in conferences and publications. This work led me to participate in the Interdisciplinary Nucleus on Psychedelic Studies, directed by Dr. Ignacio Carrera, where I learned about the PhD thesis project on Coprophilous Agarical Mushrooms from Uruguay by MSc Guillermo Morera. I got involved as a collaborator in this project, participating in the chemical analysis of its samples. Currently, I investigate secondary metabolites in fungi of the genera Psilocybe, Conocybe, Panaeolus, and Amanita, aiming to detect new compounds with potential psychoactive effects and/or medicinal properties that could enhance therapeutic applications.

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@luu.rod

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Determination of Psilocin and Psilocybin by Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Psychedelic Mushrooms from Uruguay

Psychedelic mushrooms, particularly those of the Psilocybe genus, have been historically used for medicinal, spiritual, and religious purposes due to the presence of psilocybin (PSB) and psilocin (PS). Recently, clinical trials involving psychedelic assisted therapy using PSB have demonstrated significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions such as major depressive disorder. Nevertheless, these trials have involved the use of pure psilocybin, and it is unknown if interventions using whole mushrooms can achieve comparable safety and efficacy. To this aim, robust, efficient and fast analytical methods to accurately quantify PSB and PS content in fungal matrices will be required.

Existing chemical analyses have primarily employed chromatographic techniques for PSB and PS quantification, relying on variable extraction protocols. However, these methods often lack standardization and validation, and no previous studies have employed Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for the direct analysis of mushroom extracts. Here, we developed and validated a novel method for the extraction, detection, and quantification of PSB and PS from Psilocybe mushrooms using NMR spectroscopy. This technique offers several advantages, including simultaneous detection of multiple metabolites, non-destructive sample analysis, and linear quantification over six orders of magnitude. To exemplify the method, we analyzed mushrooms from the genera Psilocybe, Conocybe, and Panaeolus collected in the field in Uruguay. The results highlight the utility of the developed method in profiling alkaloid content across diverse species.

This work represents the first application of NMR spectroscopy to psychedelic mushroom analysis, showcasing its potential for comprehensive profiling of secondary metabolites. The ability to simultaneously detect and quantify diverse components within a single spectrum makes this method a valuable tool for advancing research on the pharmacological properties and chemical diversity metabolites from psychoactive mushrooms.