Culture, health & sexuality
October 2018
Kristin M. Kostick, Jean J. Schensul
This paper discusses motivations for the use of MDMA among young adults in intimate relationships living in resource poor environments, where structural constraints limit potential for economic mobility and impact upon interpersonal relations. Drawing from in-depth interviews with men and women in intimate relationships with one or more partners, we report the range of motivations for MDMA use...
Perspectives In Psychiatric Care
October 2018
Matthew J Begola, Jonathan S Dowben
Due to the intractability, at times, in the treatment of PTSD, clinicians and researchers continue to explore different options for treatment. This article discusses the renewed interest in hallucinogens for such treatment.
European Journal of Pharmacology
October 1, 2018
G. Zsilla, Daniella E Hegyi, M. Baranyi et al.
ABSTRACT The addiction‐related behavioural effects of drugs of abuse are mediated by the mesocorticolimbic monoamine systems. We investigated the effects of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), mephedrone, &bgr;‐phenylethylamine (&bgr;‐PEA) methylphenidate (MPH) on dopamine release from mouse perfused nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex slices. The fractional release of [3H]‐dopamine...
American Journal on Addictions
September 27, 2018
Joseph J Palamar, Austin Le
35 citations
Background and Objectives The popularity of tryptamines such as N,N ‐dimethyltryptamine (DMT) appears to be increasing in the United States (US), but epidemiologic literature on prevalence of use is scant. This paper aims to determine trends in prevalence and correlates of past‐year tryptamine use among a nationally representative sample of young adults in the US. Methods Participants in the...
Science trends
September 24, 2018
Alexander Bolano
Despite stemming from phylogenetic lineages separated by 500 million years of evolution, octopuses and humans surprisingly have a lot in common. Of all the marine creatures, octopuses are extremely cognitively sophisticated and are capable of basic reasoning and learning. For example, a study in 2003 demonstrated that octopuses could learn how to crew off the
Journal of experimental neuroscience
September 19, 2018
David E. Olson
Neural plasticity-the ability to change and adapt in response to stimuli-is an essential aspect of healthy brain function and, in principle, can be harnessed to promote recovery from a wide variety of brain disorders. Many neuropsychiatric diseases including mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders arise from an inability to weaken and/or strengthen pathologic and beneficial circuits,...
Addictive Behaviors
September 4, 2018
Thomas D. W. Wilcockson, Emmanuel M Pothos, Andrew C. Parrott
10 citations
BACKGROUND: An attentional bias towards substance-related stimuli has been demonstrated with alcohol drinkers and many other types of substance user. There is evidence to suggest that the strength of an attentional bias may vary as a result of context (or use intention), especially within Ecstasy/MDMA users. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to empirically investigate attentional biases by observing the...
Journal of biomolecular structure & dynamics
September 2018
Arthur F V F Reis, Igor L P Gonçalves, Abel F G Neto et al.
In this work, we carried out a theoretical investigation regarding amphetamine-type stimulants, which can cause central nervous system degeneration, interacting with human DNA. These include amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (also known as ecstasy), as well as their main metabolites. The studies were performed through molecular docking and molecular dynamics...
The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update
September 1, 2018
Military veterans and public safety officers with chronic post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced a reduction in symptoms when the psychedelic drug 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) was given in conjunction with psychotherapy, a randomized trial has found. Doses of 75 mg and 125 mg, each given in two experimental sessions spaced 3 to 5 weeks apart, were more effective than a...
BMJ Case Reports
August 29, 2018
Cécile Salathé, Anne-Laure Blanc, Damien Tagan
16 citations
Recreational drug use is a significant societal issue and remains a clinical challenge in emergency and critical care departments. We report on a 19-year-old woman admitted to hospital semiconscious and with severe hyponatraemia. Urinalysis was positive for methamphetamine and supported a diagnosis of hyponatraemia related to ecstasy use together with a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic...
Emergency Medicine Australasia
August 14, 2018
Melanie C Armitage, R. Bryant, C. Page
Dear Editor, An 18 year old woman with an altered level of consciousness presented with friends at 03:00 to the ED having consumed alcohol throughout the evening and ingesting two tablets at midnight that she presumed to be 3,4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA). She had no past medical history and was not on any regular medications. On arrival, she was haemodynamically normal (heart rate 81...
BMC Genomics
August 2, 2018
Peter Petschner, Viola Tamasi, Csaba Ádori et al.
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") is a widely used entactogenic drug known to impair cognitive functions on the long-run. Both hippocampal and frontal cortical regions have well established roles in behavior, memory formation and other cognitive tasks and damage of these regions is associated with altered behavior and cognitive functions frequently described in otherwise...
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
August 2, 2018
Barbara Budzynska, Artur Wnorowski, Katarzyna Kaszubska et al.
9 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic substance commonly known as ecstasy, is a worldwide recreational drug of abuse. As MDMA and nicotine activate the same neuronal pathways, we examined the influence of co-administration of nicotine (0.05 mg/kg) and MDMA (1 mg/kg) on cognitive processes, nicotine-induced behavioral sensitization and on processes linked with oxidative stress...
Cureus
July 27, 2018
Sanya Virani, Gulzar N. Daya, Navjot Brainch et al.
11 citations
Ecstasy, a popular drug among the younger generation, the primary psychoactive component of which is 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is rarely known to have acute psychiatric effects and when it does, it is usually short term. We describe a patient who presented to the emergency room in a psychotic state after using ecstasy recreationally. Given his aggressive behavior in the...
Behavioural Brain Research
July 16, 2018
María P García-Pardo, José Miñarro, María A. Aguilar
Currently, there is not an effective treatment for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) dependence but pharmacotherapies targeting glutamate neurotransmission are a promising strategy. Previously, we showed that blockade of glutamate NMDA and AMPA receptors impairs the conditioned rewarding effects of MDMA and cocaine, respectively. In this study we evaluated the role of AMPA receptors in...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
July 13, 2018
Rahul R Dutta, Michael A. Taffe, Chitra D Mandyam
The detrimental effects of amphetamines on developmental stages of NPCs are limited to rodent brain and it is not known if these effects occur in nonhuman primates which are the focus of the current investigation. Young adult rhesus macaques either experienced MDMA only, a combination of amphetamines (MDMA, MDA and methamphetamine) or no amphetamines (controls) and hippocampal tissue was...
ACS Chemical Neuroscience
July 12, 2018
Lee E. Dunlap, Anne M. Andrews, David E. Olson
105 citations
Better known as "ecstasy", 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a small molecule that has played a prominent role in defining the ethos of today's teenagers and young adults, much like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) did in the 1960s. Though MDMA possesses structural similarities to compounds like amphetamine and mescaline, it produces subjective effects that are unlike any of the...
Psychopharmacology
July 2018
Bridget W Brox, Bart A. Ellenbroek
Despite ongoing study and research to better understand drug addiction, it continues to be a heavy burden. Only a small percentage of individuals who take drugs of abuse go on to develop addiction. However, there is growing evidence to suggest that a reduction in the serotonin transporter may play an important role for those that transition to compulsive drug taking. Studies have demonstrated...
Archives of Toxicology
July 2018
R Feio-Azevedo, V M Costa, D J Barbosa et al.
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "ecstasy") is a widespread drug of abuse with known neurotoxic properties. The present study aimed to evaluate the differential toxic effects of MDMA in adolescent and aged Wistar rats, using doses pharmacologically comparable to humans. Adolescent (post-natal day 40) (3 × 5 mg/kg, 2 h apart) and aged (mean 20 months old) (2 × 5 mg/kg, 2 h apart) rats...
Journal of Proteome Research
June 27, 2018
Martina I. Boxler, Gabriel L. Streun, Matthias E. Liechti et al.
23 citations
The intake of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is known to increase several endogenous substances involved in steroid and inflammation pathways. Untargeted metabolomics screening approaches can determine biochemical changes after drug exposure and can reveal new pathways, which might be involved in the pharmacology and toxicology of a drug of abuse. We analyzed plasma samples from a...