Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
March 1, 2007
Casey R. Guillot
26 citations
Due to potential serotonergic deficits, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy) may cause long-term mood disruptions in recreational Ecstasy users. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the evidence for a relationship between recreational Ecstasy use and higher levels of depressive symptoms. Eleven out of 22 studies initially have reported significantly higher depression scores...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
February 28, 2007
Ben Sessa
44 citations
Much has been written in scientific and popular literature in recent years about the dangers surrounding the recreational use of the drug MDMA/ecstasy. What is little known and understood however is the history of the apparently safe and effective use of MDMA as a therapeutic tool for psychotherapy. In this paper the author explores this history and describes the recent re-emergence of...
Pomegranate The International Journal of Pagan Studies
February 15, 2007
Dana Kramer-Rolls
European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to
Perceptual and Motor Skills
February 1, 2007
Gary Groth‐marnat, Hennedy Howchar, Ali Marsh
Research with animals and humans has suggested that acute and subacute use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA “ecstasy”) may lead to memory impairment. However, research is limited by (1) low power due to small sample sizes, (2) the possible confound of polydrug use, and (3) the failure to consider intelligence as a covariate. The present study compared the memory performance on the...
Annals of emergency medicine
February 2007
Jonathan Rosenson, Craig G. Smollin, Karl A Sporer et al.
We describe the clinical characteristics of patients with ecstasy- (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) associated hyponatremia (serum sodium level <130 mmol/L) reported to the California Poison Control System during a 5-year period and determine whether a sex difference exists among patients with ecstasy-associated hyponatremia and hyponatremia-associated adverse outcomes. We performed a...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
January 30, 2007
G Rodriguez-Alarcón, J J Canales, A Salvador
We tested the ability of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) to induce conditioned place preference (CPP) in dominant and subordinate OF-1 mice subjected to cohabitation and repeated sessions of agonistic confrontation, as well as in non-confronted mice. We selected doses of MDMA (2, 6, 10 mg/kg) previously reported to induce CPP in mice and we measured expression of c-Fos evoked by the...
Journal of Neurochemistry
January 22, 2007
Elio Acquas, Augusta Pisanu, Saturnino Spiga et al.
52 citations
Abstract R,S(±)‐3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (R,S(±)‐MDMA, ‘Ecstasy’) is known to stimulate dopamine (DA) transmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In order to investigate the post‐synaptic correlates of pre‐synaptic changes in DA transmission and their relationship with MDMA enantiomers, we studied the effects of R,S(±)‐MDMA, S(+)‐MDMA, and R(−)‐MDMA on extracellular DA and...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
January 12, 2007
Kelly J. Clemens, Jennifer L. Cornish, Glenn E. Hunt et al.
In recent work we have documented lasting adverse neurochemical and behavioural effects in rats given short-term 'binge' dosing with methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy), methamphetamine (METH) or their combination. Here we investigated whether similar effects persist in rats given 16 weekly injections followed by a 10 week period of abstinence. Female rats received MDMA (8 mg/kg,...
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
2007
Kelly Allott, Jennifer Redman
Sex has been identified as an important factor in moderating the effects of several drugs of abuse. Given the increasing popularity of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]) use, it is important for researchers and clinicians to understand the factors that may influence its pharmacological actions to improve education, harm reduction and treatment efforts. This review focuses on...
American Journal on Addictions
2007
Paolo Deluca, Fabrizio Schifano
Although the Internet is a growing source of information on MDMA/ecstasy, no studies so far have investigated the level and quality of ecstasy information available to the typical Web user. In the present study, 280 Web sites were identified and analyzed; 50.4% had an anti-drug approach, 16.2% a harm reduction approach, and 24.8% a pro-drug approach. MDMA pro-drug Web sites appeared...
Psychopharmacology
January 2007
Q David Walker, Christina N Williams, Rakesh P Jotwani et al.
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy") use has been associated with acute toxicities and persistent depletion of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT). This study investigates whether sex differences in the acute and long-term effects of MDMA exist. Male and female rats received saline or 15 mg/kg MDMA, ip, bid for 4 days. Temperature was monitored on days 1 and 4. Locomotor...
Psychopharmacology
January 2007
Manuel E. Tancer, Chris‐ellyn Johanson
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of serotonin (5-HT) in the effects of oral 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in humans. The subjective and physiological effects of 1.5 mg/kg MDMA were evaluated after 20 mg fluoxetine in eight recreational MDMA users in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. During phase 1, participants were maintained on placebo for at least 5...
Psychopharmacology
January 2007
Daniel Kueh, Lisa E Baker
Relatively few studies have compared the discriminative stimulus effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and cocaine, and findings from different laboratories are somewhat inconsistent. One possible reason for discrepant results may be the use of different reinforcement schedules during discrimination training. The present study compared fixed ratio (FR) 20 and variable interval...
Psychopharmacology
January 2007
Ronald L Cowan
Determining whether, under what circumstances, and to what extent 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) exposure produces chronic changes in human brain function is a critical public health issue. MDMA is a widely used recreational drug commonly sold as "Ecstasy". Because findings from the animal literature have indicated that specific dosage regimens of MDMA can produce long-lasting...
Psychopharmacology
January 2007
Jonathan P. Roiser, Robert D Rogers, Barbara J. Sahakian
A number of studies have compared ecstasy users to control groups on various measures of neuropsychological function in order to determine whether ecstasy use results in lasting cognitive deficits. However, few of those studies controlled adequately for non-ecstasy illicit drug use. The aim of this study was to investigate neuropsychological function in chronic ecstasy users while controlling...
Violence and victims
2007
Lesley Williams Reid, Kirk W Elifson, Claire E Sterk
While clinical studies have established a link between aggression and ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine [MDMA]), no research has attempted to explore how this link manifests itself in behavioral outcomes. In this research we examine the effects of ecstasy on aggressive and violent behavior in a sample of active users. Data were collected from 260 ecstasy users in Atlanta, Georgia....
2007
Kim P. C. Kuypers
2 citations
In addition to the positive effects, ecstasy use is also accompanied by short-term side effects occurring early, with respect to administration, and later on.Early short time side effects i.e. fatigue, lack of energy and difficulty concentrating, arise approximately 24 hours after MDMA ingestion.Late short-term side effects occur up to 7 days post-drug and are more or less comparable to early...
Annals of Clinical Psychiatry
2007
Rif S El-Mallakh, Henry David Abraham
17 citations
BACKGROUND: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy) is a synthetic amphetamine analogue that is recreationally used to obtain a psychological effect of enhanced affiliative emotional response. Its use in Western countries appears to be increasing, particularly among young individuals. METHODS: Pertinent basic and clinical literature is critically reviewed. RESULTS: A significant...
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
2007
F. Gerard Moeller, Joel L. Steinberg, Scott D Lane et al.
39 citations
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) may provide information regarding effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use on brain structure. Twelve MDMA users and 20 healthy controls underwent whole brain DTI data acquisition. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (D(av)), and longitudinal (lambda(1)) and transverse (lambda(T)) diffusivities were compared between MDMA users and controls...
JOURNAL OF HEALTH SCIENCE
2007
Carla Macedo, Paula S. Branco, Luı́sa M. Ferreira et al.
36 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "Ecstasy") is a widely abused, psychoactive recreational drug. There are growing evidences that the MDMA neurotoxic profile may be highly dependent on its hepatic metabolism. MDMA metabolism leads to the production of highly reactive derivates, namely catechols, catechol thioethers, and quinones. In this study the electrochemical oxidation-reduction...