Melanie Mueller

2 papers in the library · 59 citations · publishing 2013

Papers

Acquisition of MDMA self‐administration: pharmacokinetic factors and MDMA‐induced serotonin release

Addiction Biology June 14, 2013 Sarah Bradbury, Judith Bird, Joyce Colussi‐mas et al. 59 citations

About half of rats fail to acquire MDMA self-administration, and the difference is not due to how the drug is metabolized. MDMA triggers greater release of serotonin than dopamine in the brain. Rats that did acquire self-administration showed lower serotonin overflow than those that did not. Destroying serotonin neurons with a toxin made more rats acquire MDMA self-administration and speeded acquisition of cocaine self-administration. These findings suggest that serotonin limits initial sensitivity to MDMA's rewarding effects and delays reliable self-administration.

DOI: 10.1111/adb.12069 MDMA Serotonin Ecstasy Pharmacology +2

Discriminative‐stimulus effects of 3,4‐methylenedioxy‐N‐methylamphetamine (MDMA) and a novel MDMA quatenary analog

The FASEB Journal April 1, 2013 Jonathan M. Slezak, Melanie Mueller, George A. Ricaurte et al.

MDMA's behavioral effects are primarily due to central nervous system actions, not peripheral ones. In rats trained to distinguish MDMA from saline, the drug produced dose-related increases in drug-appropriate responses. A quaternary analog of MDMA (qMDMA), which cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, did not substitute for MDMA when given peripherally, but partially substituted when infused directly into the brain. This validates qMDMA as a tool for separating central from peripheral effects of MDMA.

DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.1098.10