Preserving the Cycle: Validating Non-Invasive Fecal Monitoring for Female Psychedelic Models
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Sydney Phillips
Presenter(s): Sydney Phillips
Mentors(s): Tiffini Lovell, Ana Clara Bobadilla
Researching psychedelic therapy for Substance Use Disorder (SUD), female models are often excluded due to outcome variability across the reproductive cycle. Our research indicates that psilocin, psilocybin’s active metabolite, has therapeutic benefit for SUD exclusively in females. Psilocin’s effects occur through brain serotonin receptor activation. Since estrogen levels alter receptor expression, preserving natural reproductive cycles is essential for accurate therapeutic modeling. Invasive vaginal lavages provide precise, real-time cycle identification, but physical handling triggers a significant stress response, impacting the hormonal cycle. Using a non-invasive fecal monitoring protocol, we tested an alternative to traditional invasive lavages and handling. Fecal collection is stress-free but provides a 12-24 hour delayed view of the cycle. Female C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to either an invasive monitoring group, involving sham surgery and routine physical restraint (scruffing and handling), or a non-invasive group monitored through fecal collection with no restraint. Upon completion of the 12-day collection phase, all mice were tested for anxiety via Elevated Plus Maze and hormone levels were tracked using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry. We hypothesize that unlike invasive stress, which suppresses estrogen-driven serotonin receptors, our non-invasive method preserves natural hormone cycles to better evaluate psilocin’s therapeutic efficacy.