Dynamic myocardial injury and variable hallucination latency in Psilocybe keralensis poisoning: a molecularly confirmed case series from China

Four patients in Chengdu, China, were poisoned after eating 16–90 g of wild mushrooms misidentified as edible but later confirmed as Psilocybe keralensis. Symptoms began within 5–20 minutes, with hallucinations starting between 10 and 180 minutes. All developed hypertension, one with a rapid rise to 182/110 mmHg and evidence of myocardial injury (peak cardiac troponin T 188.70 pg/mL) and transient skeletal muscle involvement. Supportive treatment led to full recovery. The authors note that altered myocardial biomarkers signal potential cardiovascular risks and recommend cardiac monitoring for high-risk patients in future psilocybin research, and that wild mushroom foraging should be avoided.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Introduction Psychoactive Psilocybe spp. mushrooms pose significant public health risks. We report a cluster of Psilocybe keralensis poisonings in Chengdu, China, highlighting its unique clinical features and cardiovascular complications.Case Series Four patients ingested 16–90 g of wild mushrooms (misidentified as an edible species, but later molecularly confirmed as Psilocybe keralensis). Prodromal symptoms (e.g., dizziness) emerged within 5–20 min, but the onset of hallucinations varied widely (10–180 min). All patients developed hypertension (systolic blood pressure >150 mmHg), with one patient exhibiting rapid blood pressure elevation to 182/110 mmHg at 4 h post-ingestion, which was accompanied by evidence of myocardial injury (peak cardiac troponin T concentration 188.70 pg/mL [reference range <14 pg/mL]) and transient mild skeletal muscle involvement (peaked myoglobin concentration 127.3 ng/mL, which normalized by day 2). Supportive treatment (gastric lavage, intravenous ranitidine, and fluid therapy) led to full recovery without sequelae.Discussion We observed altered myocardial biomarkers following Psilocybe keralensis poisoning, which signals potential cardiovascular risks.Conclusion Future clinical research on psilocybin should prioritize cardiovascular comorbidity screening and implement cardiac monitoring for high-risk patients. We believe that public health education should emphasize that both traditional morphological identification methods and folk-based toxicity testing lack scientific basis; it must advocate avoidance of wild mushroom foraging, which is the most reliable prevention strategy.