J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2018; 48: 85–91 | doi: 10.4997/JRCPE.2018.

119 PAPER

Amanita muscaria (fly agaric): from a

shamanistic hallucinogen to the search for
acetylcholine
History & Humanities
MR Lee1, E Dukan2, I Milne3

The mushroom Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) is widely distributed Correspondence to:
throughout continental Europe and the UK. Its common name suggests MR Lee
that it had been used to kill flies, until superseded by arsenic. The bioactive 112 Polwarth Terrace
Abstract compounds occurring in the mushroom remained a mystery for long Merchiston
periods of time, but eventually four hallucinogens were isolated from the Edinburgh EH11 1NN
fungus: muscarine, muscimol, muscazone and ibotenic acid. UK

The shamans of Eastern Siberia used the mushroom as an inebriant and a hallucinogen. In
1912, Henry Dale suggested that muscarine (or a closely related substance) was the
transmitter at the parasympathetic nerve endings, where it would produce lacrimation,
salivation, sweating, bronchoconstriction and increased intestinal motility. He and Otto Loewi
eventually isolated the transmitter and showed that it was not muscarine but acetylcholine.
The receptor is now known variously as cholinergic or muscarinic. From this basic knowledge,
drugs such as pilocarpine (cholinergic) and ipratropium (anticholinergic) have been shown to
be of value in glaucoma and diseases of the lungs, respectively.

Keywords acetylcholine, atropine, choline, Dale, hyoscine, ipratropium, Loewi, muscarine,

pilocarpine, physostigmine

Declaration of interests No conflicts of interest declared

Introduction recorded by the Swedish-American ethnologist Waldemar

Jochelson, who lived with the tribes in the early part of the
Amanita muscaria is probably the most easily recognised 20th century. His version of the tale reads as follows:
mushroom in the British Isles with its scarlet cap spotted
with conical white fleecy scales.1 The cap is about 20 cm Existence spat on the earth and where it fell, a fungus
across, at first hemispherical, then convex and finally flat. appeared. The Big Raven ate the fungus and began to feel
The gills are crowded and the stipe grows to a maximum of gay and then started to dance. The bird then developed
23 cm (with a bulbous base encased in a small volva). It special muscular power and lifted a bag that contained
favours an acidic environment, particularly in birch forests, a very heavy whale. He took the whale out to sea and
and is most prevalent in late summer or autumn. The released it. The spirit of the mushroom (Wapag) was able
Amanita genus comprises many species of which two others, to show him a vision of the whale swimming in the ocean
Amanita Phalloides (the death cap) and Amanita pantherina (returning to its brothers and sisters). Big Raven then
(the panther cap2), deserve mention. said: ‘Let the fungus remain on earth and let my children
see what it will show them’.3
The Siberian shamans
The Eastern part of Siberia was isolated from the rest of Other explorers studied the Koryak tribe of Kamchatka and
Russia for millennia. In the early 19th century, when it found that they obeyed Big Raven’s instruction to eat the
began to be explored by travellers, a Stone Age culture that fungus. A typical hallucinatory experience evolved. First the
depended totally on reindeer for its economy (their hides, participant fell into a drunken stupor. When he awoke, a
meat and milk) was found. Their ‘medicine men’ were known period of frenetic activity ensued with accompanying auditory
as shamans (Figure 1) and their religious rites were based hallucinations and changes in colour vision. The active
significantly on the use of A. muscaria, which they gathered hallucinogen passed into the urine which they still valued for
from the local birch forests.3 The use of this hallucinogenic its psychedelic activity. The local reindeer would often follow
fungus is based on the mythical tale of the Big Raven, as the drunken individual around and if he relieved himself in

1
Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology and Clinical Therapeutics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 2Assistant Librarian, 3Sibbald
Librarian, Sibbald Library, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

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MR Lee, E Dukan, I Milne

Figure 1 Siberian shaman under the influence of muscarine. Note the Figure 2a Oswald Schmiedeberg, together with Buchheim, one of
ritual drumming and the head dress of reindeer antlers. The reindeer the co-founders of German pharmacology, isolated muscarine from
and the birch tree were the basis of the tribe’s economy Amanita muscaria and studied its pharmacological effects

the snow, the reindeer would eat it and become similarly Figure 2b Frontispiece of Das Muscarin: Das Giftige Alkaloid des
intoxicated. Reindeers in this state can easily be roped and FliegenPilzes (Agaricus muscarius L.) by Schmiedeberg and Koppe
killed. Death from eating fly agaric is virtually unknown, in
contrast to another Amanita (A. phalloides, the death cap).
Reindeer meat, if taken shortly after slaughter, can on
occasion affect the consumer. Where fly agaric was scarce
or absent, the Koryaks would barter one reindeer for one
mushroom (thus further supporting the reindeer economy).
The natives would often carry the dried mushrooms around in
little boxes made of birch wood bound in reindeer leather. The
birch (Betula) has a mycorrhizal relationship with the fungus
and their leather was made of reindeer hide; both these
materials being highly symbolic in the ritual significance of
the fly agaric. Finally, a thriving trade in the mushroom was
developed by the Kamchatka merchants who traded it with
many other communities around the Gulf of Pershina.

Oswald Schmiedeberg and muscarine

Oswald Schmiedeberg4 (1838–1921) (Figure 2a) was one
of the great pharmacologists of his generation and his new
institute at Strasbourg played host to many young research
workers (from all points of the compass). His laboratory
produced a series of important publications including the
synthesis of urea and hippuric acid in the liver (the latter
by conjugation of benzoic acid with glycine). The first
cardiac glycoside, digitoxin, was isolated in his institute
in 1876. However, his main work, which has resonated to
the present day, concerns muscarine, one of the alkaloids
present in A. muscaria (although at very low concentration). extracted from Atropa belladonna). Muscarine produced the
Together with his colleague Richard Kloppe, he published same effect as electrical stimulation and they reasoned that
the excellent monograph Das Muscarin: Das Giftige Alkaloid stimulation of the vagus nerve released a substance that
des FliegenPilzes (Agaricus muscarius L.) in 1869 (Figure 2b). mimicked muscarine (the Vagusstoff). Thus an electrical
stimulus seemed to release a chemical transmitter. Could
Briefly, he and his co-worker found that if the vagus nerve that chemical transmitter be muscarine? This simple
to the heart was stimulated electrically, the heart slowed explanation proved false and the mysterious ‘Vagusstoff’
and this effect could be blocked by atropine (the alkaloid would keep its identity secret until the work of Henry Dale

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Figure 3 Three of the most hallucinogenic alkaloids found in Amanita Figure 4 Pilocarpus jaborandi (the slobbering herb). A powerful
muscaria parasympathetic agonist that produces classic effects in humans,
such as bradycardia, bronchoconstriction, salivation and increased
peristalsis. Between 1880 and 1920 it was the principal treatment
of cardiac failure as a result of its powerful property of markedly
increasing sweating

and Otto Loewi in the 1920s and 1930s.

The chemical constitution of Amanita

muscaria
It turns out that muscarine is only a minor chemical component
of the fly agaric, perhaps 1–3% by weight.5 Schmiedeberg and
Kloppe had been very fortunate to isolate this alkaloid with
its marked parasympathetic effect. The other active alkaloids
in A. muscaria were not isolated until the 1960s; they are
ibotenic acid, muscazole and muscazone (Figure 3). All three
appear to act as gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor agonists
and induce stupor followed by frenzy (by affecting the central
nervous system). Ibotenic acid appears to be the principal
alkaloid (concentrations of 0.3–1.0 g per kg of dry weight)
and it is decarboxylated in the body (removal of the COOH
group) to form muscimole (which is readily passed into the
urine). This observation would explain clearly the ancient
observation of the Koryak tribe in Siberia: that the urine of
devotees of the rite still contained an active compound, which Pilocarpine: a muscarine-like alkaloid
was hallucinogenic. The different Amanitas contain varying derived from the jaborandi shrub
amounts of hallucinogenic activity at changing seasons of
Jaborandi,6 (Figure 4) known to the Guarani Indians as the
the year. This could be a consequence of fluctuations in the
‘slobbering drug’ (that is causing excessive salivation), first
ibotenic/muscimole ratio.
came to the attention of Europeans in 1570 when Gabriel
Soares de Souza, a Portuguese explorer, noted that the
With regard to other causes for muscarine poisoning, it
leaves of the shrub were being used by the natives to treat
should be pointed out that another member of the Amanita
mouth ulcers. In the 1630s two scientists from the Dutch
family, A. pantherina (the panther cap), contains a far higher
West Indian Company observed that many Indian tribes used
concentration of muscarine than A. muscaria, but little
the leaf for a variety of conditions, ranging from gonorrhoea
ibotenic acid or muscazone. Consequently, the panther cap
to epilepsy to diphtheria. The indigenous tribes regarded
produces a pure ‘muscarinic’ syndrome with few effects
the plant with great satisfaction, as a pound of sweat could
on the central nervous system. Other genera of mushroom
be secreted within 10 minutes of its administration (a
also tend to produce a pure ‘muscarinic’ syndrome when an
desirable action to remove ‘toxins’ from the body). In 1873,
overdose is taken. These include Inocybe and Clitocybe. It
Symphonio Contino, a Brazilian doctor seeking an extra
should be emphasised that ingestion of A. muscaria rarely
degree in medicine, went to Paris and took with him samples
causes death and this is also true of A. pantherina (and the
of the Jaborandi leaves. French physicians found that the
genera Inocybe and Clitocybe). Nevertheless, they produce a
leaves ‘increased the sweating and salivation enormously,
short lived, but dramatic, constellation of symptoms, notably
together with, a much less degree secretion from the mucous
vomiting and diarrhoea, salivation, bronchoconstriction and
membranes of the nose, the bronchial tubes, the stomach
bradycardia. Fortunately, the administration of intravenous
and the intestines’.
saline (to correct the fluid loss from the gut) and treatment
with atropine (a blocker of acetylcholine at the peripheral
A ‘Jaborandi Rush’ then developed in which botanic explorers
muscarinic receptor) will rapidly control the situation and
hurried to South America to try and identify the plant
lead to a full recovery.
scientifically and examine its distribution. They found that the

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MR Lee, E Dukan, I Milne

Figure 5 Three muscarinic agonists: two direct (muscarine and Figure 6 Calabar Bean (Physostigma venenosum), the source of the
pilocarpine) and one indirect (physostigmine) alkaloid physostigmine which, by its inhibition of cholinesterase,
permitted the isolation of acetylcholine, an endogenous
neurotransmitter

chief site for the Jaborandi shrub was the state of Maranhão,
in north-east Brazil, abutting the Atlantic Ocean. The plant is
a small shrub, 3–7.5 metres tall, and grows as an individual
or in stands. There are many species of Pilocarpus (the name
derives from the Greek pilo ‘felt hat’ and carpus ‘flower’).
These include P. microphyllus, P. jaborandi and P. trachylopus.
In 1875, its most active alkaloid, pilocarpine, was isolated
and subjected to detailed investigation.

Pilocarpine7 is an imidazole alkaloid and the leaves of the

Jaborandi contain 0.5% of this substance per total dry weight
(Figure 5). Later, the demand for the alkaloid would be so
massive, for the treatment of oedema in cardiac failure, that
the pharmaceutical company Merck set up a large plantation
in São Luís, the capital of Maranhão state, Brazil. In the early
studies on pilocarpine in man, a novel effect soon became
apparent. If the alkaloid was instilled into the conjuctival
sac, pupillary constriction (meiosis) was regularly observed.
Also, the pupillary accommodation reflex was abolished and The early investigators noted that the actions of the three
the intraocular pressure fell. This last observation was made alkaloids – muscarine, pilocarpine and physostigmine – could
possible by the concomitant development of the aplanar be reversed by the belladonna alkaloid, atropine (and this
tonometer, the first instrument to measure intraocular latter tropane could be useful in overdose of the muscarine-
pressure accurately. This was a pivotal observation and led like drugs). These observations were tantalising: the three
rapidly to the successful use of the alkaloid in the treatment alkaloids obviously worked on a common mechanism, but
of glaucoma (raised intraocular pressure). what was it? This conundrum would not be solved until the
1930s and would require the combined efforts of Henry Dale
Physostigmine from the Calabar bean and Otto Loewi (Figures 7a,b). They would jointly receive the
In the 1860s, a novel alkaloid, physostigmine, was isolated Nobel Prize in 1936 for the discovery of acetylcholine.
from the Calabar bean8 (Physostigma venenosum) (Figure 6).
This alkaloid also had the properties of constricting the pupil. The search for the elusive parasympathetic
The bean had a similar effect to that of pilocarpine in that transmitter succeeds: acetylcholine is
it also lowered intraocular pressure. This seemed to have isolated
an additive effect, together with pilocarpine, on intraocular
In 1912, Henry Dale, director of The Wellcome Laboratory
pressure. This combination became the standard treatment
for Medical Research in London, was a puzzled man. In
for glaucoma until the 1960s when β-adrenergic blocker
his review of the parasympathetic nervous system, he
drugs, such as timolol, began to supplant them. Pilocarpine
adumbrated that there were two divisions of the autonomic
is still listed in the British National Formulary and can be
nervous system: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.
used when the more modern drugs for the treatment of
The sympathetic resembled the actions produced in the body
glaucoma, such as beta-blockers and prostaglandins, have
by the then recently discovered adrenaline (a catecholamine).
failed.9 Its main use now is in the treatment of xerostomia
These effects also mimicked those produced by nicotine
(dry mouth), a troublesome condition which often occurs after
(the alkaloid found in Nicotiana) and he therefore called
radiotherapy to the tongue and mouth in the treatment of
them ‘nicotinic’. The parasympathetic transmitter remained
squamous (and other) carcinomas. This beneficial effect is
a complete mystery and as its actions resembled those
produced by its marked stimulation of salivation.9
produced by muscarine, he called them ‘muscarinic’. He
called the unknown transmitter the ‘true’ muscarine. He

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Figure 7a Sir Henry Dale (1875–

1968), widely known as the
father of British pharmacology,
pioneer in his work on ergot,
histamine and in par ticular
acetylcholine. He and Otto Loewi
were jointly awarded the Nobel
Prize for medicine in 1936 for the
isolation and characterisation of
acetylcholine

Figure 7b Professor Otto Loewi

(1873–1961), Graz, Austria,
carried out fundamental studies
on the ‘Vagusstoff’ which proved
to be acetylcholine. As a Jew, he
had to flee Austria in 1938 (after
the Anschluss)

suspected that this transmitter was an ester of choline, came off in the smoke, leading to dilation of the bronchi.
perhaps the acetyl derivative, but this was pure conjecture. Later in the 19th century, atropine, a related alkaloid (derived
The key to unlock this door was provided separately by from Atropa belladonna), would become the treatment of
Dale and Loewi when, 20 years later, they discovered that choice for asthma. However, atropine is not the perfect
physostigmine preserved the parasympathetic transmitter drug for this condition as the side effects are severe and
from destruction. As a result, when this enigmatic compound potentially lethal. They include dry mouth, urinary retention,
was recovered and analysed, it was indeed acetylcholine. blurring of vision and dangerous acceleration of the heart.
The last piece of the jigsaw clicked into position. Minute Also, atropine crosses the blood–brain barrier producing
amounts of acetylcholine were released at the receptor and undesirable effects such as mania and hallucinations in the
acted there. It was then rapidly inactivated by a specific pregnant woman. The World Health Organization still lists
esterase enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (Figure 8). The action atropine as an essential drug, but there are now very few
of the esterase was inhibited by physostigmine which was indications for its use. There was therefore a need to develop
thus classified as an anticholinesterase. This action of a drug that would be less well absorbed and would have
physostigmine allowed acetylcholine to accumulate in the limited serious toxic effects. This led to the production of new
heart (and the sympathetic ganglion) and thereby it could antimuscarinic (anticholinergic) medicines for the treatment
be more easily detected. On the other hand, muscarine of asthma (and COPD): ipratropium and tiotropium (Figure 9).
and pilocarpine were not anticholinesterases, but instead
acted directly on the parasympathetic receptor to produce Ipratropium is a synthetic quaternary ammonium compound.14
the classic actions of bradycardia, pupil constriction and As it is highly charged, this limits its systemic bioavailability.
intestinal contraction. Atropine (and hyoscine) blocked the Ipratropium came into prominent use for COPD in the 1980s;
actions of acetylcholine and became known as anticholinergic probably because the adrenergic bronchodilators (such as
compounds.10,11,12 salbutamol and salmeterol) tended to lose their efficacy
when used for long periods. It has become apparent that
As Lee has described,10 this led to the development, at St there are at least five subtypes of muscarine receptors
Alfege’s Hospital in London, of physostigmine as a new in the body (M1 to M5). Three of these (M1–M3) occur in
treatment for myasthenia gravis, a serious disorder of muscle the bronchioles and lung tissue. Unfortunately, ipratropium
giving rise to weakness and eventually to fatal paralysis. blocks all three muscarinic receptors with equal affinity.
However, perhaps the greatest advance in therapy has Blockade of the M2 receptors can, paradoxically, potentiate
come with the discovery of the ‘muscarinic receptors’ in vagally induced bronchoconstriction. As a result, attention
the bronchioles and lung tissue. When these are activated turned to finding a muscarine blocker that would be specific
inappropriately, this can result in bronchial asthma, or (or relatively specific) for the M3 receptors.
aggravate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Tiotropium bromide is the first anticholinergic to be an
The use of antimuscarinic drugs in lung effective treatment of poorly controlled asthma. The drug
disease is functionally selective for the M3 receptor and this effect
is likely to be attributed to the two thiophene rings that are
Muscarinic blockade is one of the most ancient treatments present in the molecule. In several clinical trials in asthma
for asthma. For example, in the ancient Egyptian Ebers and COPD,14,15 tiotropium proved more effective on inhalation
Papyrus (several thousand years old), a traditional treatment than ipratropium. Another definite advantage of tiotropium
was to place a distillate of henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) onto is its long half-life, necessitating only one dose of inhalant
heated bricks.13 The patient would then inhale hyoscine that per day. Tiotropium also has additional effects in respiratory

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MR Lee, E Dukan, I Milne

Figure 8 The formation and destruction of acetylcholine Conclusion

(the parasympathetic agonist). Physostigmine inhibits acetyl
cholinesterase and therefore acetylcholine accumulates and can The history of Amanita muscaria and its contribution to
be measured accurately modern medicine is barely credible: from the shamanistic
cults of Eastern Siberia, to the pharmacology laboratories
of Europe in the 19th century and then onto Dale’s
serendipitous suggestion that acetylcholine was the
muscarine-like compound (released at the parasympathetic
nerve endings). This culminated in the development of
useful drugs (such as pilocarpine and tiotropium). The
whole process seems unlikely in the extreme. Yet again,
it illustrates the critical sequence: identify the plant (or
the fungus in this case), isolate the active principle (or
principles) and then determine whether they have useful
Figure 9 Four drugs which block the muscarinic receptors (M1 to M3); therapeutic activity in human disease.
two ancient (atropine and hyoscine) and two modern (ipratropium
and tiotropium) A suitable conclusion to this article is a quotation from the
Friar’s speech in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act II,
Scene 2, verses 15 to 18:

‘O mickle is the powerful grace that has

In plants, herbs and their true qualities
For naught so vile that on earth do live
But to the earth some special good doth give’

This speech sums up exactly the history of Amanita

muscaria. On the one hand, it was regarded by the Russian
authorities as a dangerous, devilish and indeed deadly
fungus. It was anathematised by the Orthodox Church.
On the other hand, some benefit would accrue when the
active substance muscarine would prove to be a vital key
in unlocking the parasympathetic puzzle and in time to the
isolation of acetylcholine. Useful compounds like pilocarpine,
physostigmine and tiotropium would eventually emerge to
contribute to our knowledge (and treatment) of glaucoma,
asthma and COPD.
Acknowledgments
We thank Mr Graham Hardy of the Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh for his help with the manuscript. We also
acknowledge the contribution of several other institutions
with this project: The Royal Society, The Royal Society of
disease which are not mediated by direct action on smooth Chemistry and the Linnean Society (all in London).
muscle. These include inhibition of neutrophil migration into
the lung, eosinophil deactivation and the prevention of lung
remodelling (seen in chronic asthma and COPD).

Several other active selective M3 antagonists are under

development and it remains to be seen whether any of those
will challenge tiotropium as an effective drug for the long term
treatment of lung disease. Certainly, combination inhalant
therapy with a β2-adrenergic agonist (salmeterol) , a steroid
(such as beclamethasone) and an M3 antagonist (based on
tiotropium) seems to offer a better prospect for the future
treatment of asthma (combined with the recent development
of drugs acting against the eosinophil leucocyte).

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