Aeruginascin is a close chemical relative of psilocybin. Its structure was worked out in 2006 from the fiber cap mushroom Inocybe aeruginascens, and the authors noted it resembles bufotenidine, a compound from frog skin (Jensen et al., 2006). A 2022 study describes it as a quaternary ammonium, meaning its nitrogen carries one more methyl group than psilocybin’s (Glatfelter et al., 2022).
For years it was known from that one species. A 2022 survey of 226 fruiting bodies from 82 collections across seven genera then reported aeruginascin concentrations for many species for the first time (Gotvaldová et al., 2022). How mushrooms make it is not settled: a third methyl transfer by the enzyme PsiM has been proposed, but a 2024 structural study says that step lacks experimental evidence (Hudspeth et al., 2024).
Its effects are the open question. In the 2022 mouse study it bound serotonin receptors in lab assays but did not trigger the head-twitch response that psilocin and psilocybin did (Glatfelter et al., 2022). Claims that it shapes a mushroom’s effects, part of the so-called entourage idea, rest on animal work and anecdote, not human data.
Sources
- Jensen et al., 2006, Planta Medica: structure of aeruginascin
- Glatfelter et al., 2022, ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science: mushroom tryptamines in cells and mice
- Gotvaldová et al., 2022, International Journal of Molecular Sciences: tryptamines in 226 fruiting bodies
- Hudspeth et al., 2024, Nature Communications: structure of PsiM
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