Today, we highlight two preliminary studies: one suggests a potential strategy to stop chemotherapy treatments from damaging nerves, and the other uncovers hitherto unknown consequences of germs that are known to cause severe illness in adults but were previously believed to be safe for infants.
Long after treatment is over, chemotherapy-related peripheral neuropathy can cause pain, numbness, increased sensitivity to cold, and loss of sensation that are frequently irreversible.
Researchers reported on Thursday in Science that two doses of psilocybin administered prior to chemotherapy avoided hypersensitivity to cold, protected sensory nerve endings, and retained touch sensibility in mice without compromising the anticancer effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors are brain cell surface proteins that allow psilocybin to directly impact the peripheral nervous system. The drug’s neuroprotective benefits were reversed by blocking the 5-HT2A pathway, while psilocybin-like protection was obtained by utilizing a non-hallucinogenic substance that stimulates the same brain-cell surface proteins.
The researchers discovered that psilocybin also assisted in shielding the mitochondria, or “energy factories,” of nerve cells from the harmful effects of chemotherapy medications.
According to a statement from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s study leader, Dr. Moran Amit, “there is an urgent need for treatments that prevent nerve injury without interfering with lifesaving chemotherapy.” “Rather than treating symptoms after they become persistent, these findings provide important insights into how psilocybin may protect nerves before damage occurs.”
In order to ascertain whether the mechanisms seen in the lab translate into clinically significant reductions in peripheral neuropathy in patients, his team’s findings are the basis for an upcoming mid-stage trial that opens a new tab evaluating psilocybin during chemotherapy in patients with multiple cancer types.
