A perspective on psychedelic teratogenicity: the utility of zebrafish models

Abstract

Psychedelic drugs have experienced an unprecedented surge in recreational use within the past few years. Among recreational users, the risks of psychedelic use by pregnant and breastfeeding women are severely understudied and there is little information on the potential teratogenic effects of these drugs. We provide an overview of the previous data on psychedelic teratogenicity from rodent studies and human surveys, discuss their limitations, and propose the utility of the zebrafish as a potential effective model for investigating psychedelic teratogenicity. Recent years have validated the use of zebrafish in the study of fetal exposure and developmental biology; we highlight these properties of the zebrafish for its suitability in psychedelic toxicity research.

Keywords: drug safety; maternal exposure; psychedelics; teratogenicity; zebrafish.