Molecules
July 13, 2026
Fabrizio De Luca, Cinzia Brenna, Marta Bassi et al.
Cumulative reports of psychiatric and neurological outcomes due to synthetic cathinones continue to raise public concern. However, the understanding of the neurotoxic mechanism of action is still poorly understood, particularly for the under-explored αPHP, one of the main MDPV derivatives. In particular, the effects of this synthetic drug on neural stem/progenitor cell cultures are still...
British Journal of Pharmacology
May 5, 2026
Giorgia Corli, Deborah Rudin, Dino Luethi et al.
Abstract Background and Purpose New synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) are associated with severe adverse effects, including unexpected psychiatric symptoms. These compounds are mainly active through their potent agonism on the cannabinoid receptors CB 1 and CB 2 . Recently, evidence of the direct interaction of some SCRAs with the serotonergic 5‐HT receptors has emerged....
Neuropharmacology
February 1, 2026
Giorgia Corli, Fabrizio De Luca, Sabrine Bilel et al.
1 citation
In the last years, Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCBs) have established themselves as one of the largest and most popular groups of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), being frequently detected in biological samples of patients involved in intoxication and death cases. To date, compelling evidence on the potential interaction between SCBs and non-cannabinoid neurotransmission systems has emerged,...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
November 29, 2025
Marta Bassi, Elisa Roda, Giorgia Corli et al.
3-chloromethcathinone (3-CMC) is a synthetic cathinone that gained relevance, having been involved in a large number of seizures and poisoning reports. Despite this, literature currently lacks information on its pharmaco-toxicological effects. This study aims to investigate the acute sensorimotor and physiological effects of 3-CMC (0.1-30 mg/kg; i.p.) in male and female CD-1 mice and its...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
March 20, 2025
Sabrine Bilel, Cristina Miliano, Giorgia Corli et al.
3 citations
25I-NBOMe (4-Iodo-2,5-dimethoxy-N-(2-methoxybenzyl) phenethylamine) is a synthetic psychedelic compound abused for its ambiguous legal state as a counterfeit lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). 25I-NBOMe acts as a selective agonist of 5HT2A receptors leading to hallucinations, intoxications, and fatalities. Here, we assessed the rewarding properties of 25I-NBOMe and its behavioral and neurotoxic...
Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2024
Marta Bassi, Sabrine Bilel, Micaela Tirri et al.
7 citations
The 5-methoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-MiPT, known online as "Moxy") is a new psychedelic tryptamine first identified on Italian national territory in 2014. Its hallucinogen effects are broadly well-known; however, only few information is available regarding its pharmaco-toxicological effects. Following the seizure of this new psychoactive substances by the Arm of Carabinieri and...
Drug Testing and Analysis
May 1, 2023
Marta Massano, Enrico Gerace, Martina Borsari et al.
6 citations
Methoxpropamine (MXPr) is an arylcyclohexylamine dissociative drug structurally similar to 3-methoxyeticyclidine, ketamine, and deschloroketamine, recently appeared in the European illegal market, and was classified within the new psychoactive substances (NPS). Our study investigated the metabolism of MXPr to elucidate the distribution of the parent drug and its metabolites in body fluids and...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
2022
Micaela Tirri, Sabrine Bilel, Raffaella Arfè et al.
17 citations
In the last decade, the market for new psychoactive substances has been enriched by numerous psychedelic phenethylamines, which mimic the psychoactive effect of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). In particular, the -NBOMe series, which are more potent than their 2C compounds analogs, are considered worthy substitutes for LSD by users. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of...
Experimental Neurology
November 1, 2021
Matteo Marti, Giuseppe Talani, Cristina Miliano et al.
6 citations
Methoxetamine (MXE) is a dissociative substance of the arylcyclohexylamine class that has been present on the designer drug market as a ketamine-substitute since 2010. We have previously shown that MXE (i) possesses ketamine-like discriminative and positive rewarding effects in rats, (ii) affects brain processing involved in cognition and emotional responses, (iii) causes long-lasting...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
July 17, 2021
Sabrine Bilel, Micaela Tirri, Raffaella Arfè et al.
1-cyclohexyl-x-methoxybenzene is a novel psychoactive substance (NPS), first discovered in Europe in 2012 as unknown racemic mixture of its three stereoisomers: ortho, meta and para. Each of these has structural similarities with the analgesic tramadol and the dissociative anesthetic phencyclidine. In light of these structural analogies, and based on the fact that both tramadol and...
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
December 17, 2020
Veronica Cocchi, Sofia Gasperini, Patrizia Hrelia et al.
32 citations
Psychedelic and stimulating phenethylamines belong to the family of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The acute toxicity framework has begun to be investigated, while studies showing genotoxic potential are very limited or not available. Therefore, in order to fill this gap, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the genotoxicity by treating TK6 cells with 2C-H, 2C-I, 2C-B, 25B-NBOMe, and...
Brain Sciences
September 3, 2020
Liana Fattore, Matteo Marti, Rafaela Mostallino et al.
63 citations
Sex and gender deeply affect the subjective effects and pharmaco-toxicological responses to drugs. Men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illicit drugs and to present to emergency departments for serious or fatal intoxications. However, women are just as likely as men to develop substance use disorders, and may be more susceptible to craving and relapse. Clinical and...
Brain Sciences
August 25, 2020
Micaela Tirri, Luisa Ponzoni, Sabrine Bilel et al.
9 citations
The drastic increase in hallucinogenic compounds in illicit drug markets of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is a worldwide threat. Among these, 2, 5-dimetoxy-4-bromo-amphetamine (DOB) and paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA; marketed as “ecstasy”) are frequently purchased on the dark web and consumed for recreational purposes during rave/dance parties. In fact, these two substances seem to induce the...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
2019
Cristina Miliano, Matteo Marti, Nicholas Pintori et al.
4-Iodo-2,5-dimethoxy-N-(2-methoxybenzyl)phenethylamine (25I-NBOMe), commonly called "N-Bomb," is a synthetic phenethylamine with psychedelic and entactogenic effects; it was available on the Internet both as a legal alternative to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and as a surrogate of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), but now it has been scheduled among controlled substances. 25I-NBOMe...
Neuropharmacology
October 1, 2018
Andrea Ossato, Sabrine Bilel, Adolfo Gregori et al.
Novel psychoactive substances are intoxicating compounds developed to mimic the effects of well-established drugs of abuse. They are not controlled by the United Nations drug convention and pose serious health concerns worldwide. Among them, the dissociative drug methoxetamine (MXE) is structurally similar to ketamine (KET) and phencyclidine (PCP) and was created to purposely mimic the...
Frontiers in Neuroscience
April 19, 2016
Cristina Miliano, Giovanni Serpelloni, Claudia Rimondo et al.
195 citations
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are a heterogeneous and rapidly evolving class of molecules available on the global illicit drug market (e.g smart shops, internet, "dark net") as a substitute for controlled substances. The use of NPS, mainly consumed along with other drugs of abuse and/or alcohol, has resulted in a significantly growing number of mortality and emergency admissions for...