We previously found that intermittent administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”) to adolescent male rats protected against the behavioral and serotonergic neurotoxic effects of a subsequent MDMA binge. Similar results have been reported for the dopamine (DA) neurotoxin methamphetamine (METH). The present study tested the hypothesis that intermittent adolescent MDMA...
Introduction: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common health issue of complex etiology significantly deteriorating functioning in everyday life. It may develop as a result of exposure to traumatic events like traffic accidents, war experience, sexual abuse and domestic violence. Current methods of treatment consist of trauma-oriented psychotherapy supported by selective serotonin...
Psychedelic microdosing is the practice of taking very low doses of psychedelic substances, typically over a longer period of time. The long-term safety of chronic microdosing is relatively uncharacterized, but valvular heart disease (VHD) has been proposed as a potential risk due to activation of the serotonin 5-HT 2B receptor. However, this risk has not yet been comprehensively assessed. This...
BDSM and kink practitioners sometimes describe scenes that induce altered dream-like states with blurred boundaries and vivid transcendent imagery. Firsthand accounts illustrate the intensity and transformational character of such experiences, which can be characterized as ecstatic. The activities of alternative sexualities are a modern iteration of humanity’s archetypal fascination with...
Aims: Benzofurans are used recreationally, due their ability to cause psychostimulant and/or entactogenic effects, but unfortunately produce substantial adverse effects, including death. Three benzofurans 5-(2-aminopropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (5-APDB), 5-(2-aminopropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (5-MAPB) and 6-(2-aminopropyl) benzofuran (6-APB) were tested to determine their behavioral effects in...
Obed Okwoli Apochi, MSc; New study reveals long-term effects of MDMA on the brain's glutamate-glutamine complex, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacolog
Metabolomics produces vast quantities of data but determining which metabolites are the most relevant to the disease or disorder of interest can be challenging. This study sought to demonstrate how behavioral models of psychiatric disorders can be combined with metabolomics research to overcome this limitation. We designed a preclinical, untargeted metabolomics procedure, that focuses on the...
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug, however over 200 studies demonstrate that acute (e.g. hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis) and chronic (e.g. neurotoxicity) toxicity effects of MDMA were observed in different animals. Methimazole (MMI), an inhibitor of thyroid hormone synthesis, was found to significantly reduce the HSP72 expression of heat stress induced in...
BackgroundSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) is a serious and prevalent psychiatric condition that heavily impacts social functioning and quality of life. Though efficacious treatments exist for SAD, remission rates remain elevated and a significant portion of those affected do not access effective treatment, suggesting the need for additional evidence-based treatment options. This paper presents a...
Decision to make the previously illicit drugs available is dogged by suggestions that it was rushed. Decision to make the previously illicit drugs available is dogged by suggestions that it was rushed.
The TGA attached conditions to their use: namely, that onlypsychiatristswhoare trainedandauthorised to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin can do so, that a human research ethics committeemust approve each patient case, and that the treatments must be used in conjunction with psychotherapy.1 An officer of the TGA and the ethics committee must also satisfy themselves that “a suitably robust treatment...
Homochiral (R)- and (S)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) were prepared in six steps (each) from the chiral pool precursors d- and l-alanine, respectively. The key step, copper-catalysed regioselective ring-opening of an N-tosylaziridine with an aryl Grignard reagent, proceeded in high yield with complete regioselectivity. Elaboration was achieved with preservation of configurational...
Introduction Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was originally treated as a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs mainly in children and tends to diminish or disappear with age, but we now know that symptoms persist into adulthood in over 50% of ADHD patients. Undiagnosed individuals often turn to psychoactive substance to minimize the negative aspects of functioning and improve...
Disruptions of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis can cause an arginine vasopressin deficiency, also known as central diabetes insipidus. Patients with this condition are at high risk of additional oxytocin deficiency owing to the close anatomical proximity of oxytocin-producing neurons; however, no conclusive evidence for such a deficiency has been reported. We aimed to use...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common chronic and disabling psychiatric disorder that may develop after exposure to a traumatic life event. There are existing evidence-based psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for PTSD; however, these treatments have significant limitations. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) was granted "breakthrough therapy" status by the U.S. Food and Drug...
Psychoactive drugs modulate learning and emotional processes in ways that could impact their recreational and medical use. Recent work has revealed how drugs impact different stages of processing emotional episodic memories, specifically encoding (forming memories), consolidation (stabilizing memories), and retrieval (accessing memories). Drugs administered before encoding may preferentially...
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents a major public health problem for which currently available treatments are modestly effective. We report the findings of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-site phase 3 clinical trial (NCT03537014) to test the efficacy and safety of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy for the treatment of patients with...
Unsuccessfully treated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious and life-threatening disorder. Two medications, paroxetine hydrochloride and sertraline hydrochloride, are approved treatments for PTSD by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Analyses of pharmacotherapies for PTSD found only small to moderate effects when compared with placebo. The Multidisciplinary Association for...
Psychedelic substances are under investigation in several drug development programs. Controlled clinical trials are providing evidence for safe and effective use of psychedelic therapies for treating mental health conditions. With the anticipated FDA approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in 2023 and psilocybin therapy for depression disorders soon after, now is the...
Observing that designing clinical studies to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of psychedelic substances presents a number of unique challenges that require careful consideration to the industry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month issued, for the first time, draft guidance for conducting clinical trials with psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA (ecstasy).