Background:Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD)and depression are highly comorbid.Psilocybin exerts substantial therapeutic effects on depression by promoting neuroplasticity.Fear extinction is a key process in the mec...Background:Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD)and depression are highly comorbid.Psilocybin exerts substantial therapeutic effects on depression by promoting neuroplasticity.Fear extinction is a key process in the mechanism of first-line exposure-based therapies for PTSD.We hypothesized that psilocybin would facilitate fear extinction by promoting hippocampal neuroplasticity.Methods:First,we assessed the effects of psilocybin on percentage of freezing time in an auditory cued fear conditioning(FC)and fear extinction paradigm in mice.Psilocybin was administered 30 min before extinction training.Fear extinction testing was performed on the first day;fear extinction retrieval and fear renewal were tested on the sixth and seventh days,respectively.Furthermore,we verified the effect of psilocybin on hippocampal neuroplasticity using Golgi staining for the dendritic complexity and spine density,Western blotting for the protein levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and mechanistic target of rapamycin(mTOR),and immunofluorescence staining for the numbers of doublecortin(DCX)-and bromodeoxyuridine(BrdU)-positive cells.Results:A single dose of psilocybin(2.5 mg/kg,i.p.)reduced the increase in the percentage of freezing time induced by FC at 24 h,6th day and 7th day after administration.In terms of structural neuroplasticity,psilocybin rescued the decrease in hippocampal dendritic complexity and spine density induced by FC;in terms of neuroplasticity related proteins,psilocybin rescued the decrease in the protein levels of hippocampal BDNF and mTOR induced by FC;in terms of neurogenesis,psilocybin rescued the decrease in the numbers of DCX-and BrdU-positive cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus induced by FC.Conclusions:A single dose of psilocybin facilitated rapid and sustained fear extinction;this effect might be partially mediated by the promotion of hippocampal neuroplasticity.This study indicates that psilocybin may be a useful adjunct to exposure-based therapies for PTSD and other mental disorders characterized by failure of fear extinction.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the STI2030-Major Projects(Nos.2021ZD0200900 and 2021ZD0202000)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.81773708,82270411 and 81970344)+1 种基金Beijing Hospitals Authority's Ascent Plan(No.DFL20220203)Beijing Hospitals Authority Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support(No.ZYLX202103)
文摘Background:Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD)and depression are highly comorbid.Psilocybin exerts substantial therapeutic effects on depression by promoting neuroplasticity.Fear extinction is a key process in the mechanism of first-line exposure-based therapies for PTSD.We hypothesized that psilocybin would facilitate fear extinction by promoting hippocampal neuroplasticity.Methods:First,we assessed the effects of psilocybin on percentage of freezing time in an auditory cued fear conditioning(FC)and fear extinction paradigm in mice.Psilocybin was administered 30 min before extinction training.Fear extinction testing was performed on the first day;fear extinction retrieval and fear renewal were tested on the sixth and seventh days,respectively.Furthermore,we verified the effect of psilocybin on hippocampal neuroplasticity using Golgi staining for the dendritic complexity and spine density,Western blotting for the protein levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and mechanistic target of rapamycin(mTOR),and immunofluorescence staining for the numbers of doublecortin(DCX)-and bromodeoxyuridine(BrdU)-positive cells.Results:A single dose of psilocybin(2.5 mg/kg,i.p.)reduced the increase in the percentage of freezing time induced by FC at 24 h,6th day and 7th day after administration.In terms of structural neuroplasticity,psilocybin rescued the decrease in hippocampal dendritic complexity and spine density induced by FC;in terms of neuroplasticity related proteins,psilocybin rescued the decrease in the protein levels of hippocampal BDNF and mTOR induced by FC;in terms of neurogenesis,psilocybin rescued the decrease in the numbers of DCX-and BrdU-positive cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus induced by FC.Conclusions:A single dose of psilocybin facilitated rapid and sustained fear extinction;this effect might be partially mediated by the promotion of hippocampal neuroplasticity.This study indicates that psilocybin may be a useful adjunct to exposure-based therapies for PTSD and other mental disorders characterized by failure of fear extinction.
