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New psychoactive substances: psychiatrist's view

Andrey Viktorovich Antsyborov, Irina Vladimirovna Dubatova

Interactive science June 21, 2019 DOI: 10.21661/r-497066 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Topics MDMA
Keywords Synthetic cannabinoids Designer drug Cathinone Phencyclidine Mephedrone Pharmacology Hallucinogen Dopamine Opioid Amphetamine Nmda receptor Biochemistry
Citations 1
Key findings Designer drugs affect multiple neurotransmitter pathways and receptors, and their imbalance leads to polymorphic psychotic disorders.

Abstract

Appearing not long ago, new psychoactive substances (designer drugs), including synthetic cannabinoids, derivatives of cathinone, phenethylamines, new stimulants, synthetic opioids, tryptamine derivatives, phencyclidine, piperazine, the GABA (A/B) receptors agonists, have become a serious problem for consumers and for physicians. Consumers of these substances are attracted primarily by the intensity of psychoactive effects, and the «legal high» declared by the black manufacturers, which indicates that significant difficulties in a laboratory identification of new surfactants. Designer drugs, when ingested, can be influenced on many neurotransmitter pathways/receptors: dopamine, cannabinoid (CB1), GABA (A/B), 5-HT2A, glutamate, and k-opioid receptors (KOR), the imbalance of which leads to the development of polymorphic psychotic disorders.

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