Psychopharmacology
June 2011
John P Dougherty, Vincent J. Aloyo
The serotonin (5-HT) 2A receptor is implicated in numerous psychiatric disorders, making it an important, clinically relevant target. Despite the availability of transgenic mouse lines, the native mouse 5-HT(2A) receptor is not well-characterized. The goals of the current study were to determine 5-HT(2A) and 5-HT(2C) receptor densities in mouse cortex, establish a pharmacological profile of the...
British Journal of Pharmacology
May 26, 2011
Ján Kehr, Fumio Ichinose, Shimako Yoshitake et al.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The designer drug 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylaminopropan-1-one (4-methylmethcathinone, mephedrone) is reported to possess psychostimulant, entactogenic and hallucinogenic effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of acute administration of mephedrone on extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) and 5-HT in the nucleus accumbens of awake rats and compare...
Forensic Science International
May 20, 2011
Jennifer L. Pilgrim, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, Noel Woodford et al.
44 citations
The use of MDMA (ecstasy) in Australia is a widespread and growing problem, promoting acute toxicity and disease which can lead to premature death in users. We report four cases of fatal serotonin toxicity caused by the combination of MDMA and moclobemide, a reversible MAO-A inhibitor with potent serotonergic activity. Despite the highly reported toxicity of this drug combination, there are...
Neuropsychopharmacology
May 11, 2011
Janelle H. P. van Wel, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Eef L. Theunissen et al.
52 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or 'ecstasy' has been associated with memory deficits during abstinence and intoxication. The human neuropharmacology of MDMA-induced memory impairment is unknown. This study investigated the role of 5-HT(2A) and 5-HT(1A) receptors in MDMA-induced memory impairment. Ketanserin is a 5-HT(2A) receptor blocker and pindolol a 5-HT(1A) receptor blocker. It...
Brain Research
May 4, 2011
Gender differences in hyperthermia and regional 5-HT and 5-HIAA depletion in the brain following MDMA administration in rats.
International Journal of Psychophysiology
May 1, 2011
Xinjun Yu, Masaki Fumoto, Yasushi Nakatani et al.
To gain insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in Zen meditation, we evaluated the effects of focused attention (FA) on breathing movements in the lower abdomen (Tanden) in novices. We investigated hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an attention-related brain region, using 24-channel near-infrared spectroscopy during a 20-minute session of FA on Tanden...
European Journal of Pharmacology
April 9, 2011
Pharmacodynamic interactions between MDMA and concomitants in MDMA tablets on extracellular dopamine and serotonin in the rat brain.
The Journal of Comparative Neurology
March 31, 2011
Csaba Ádori, Rómeó D. Andó, Mária Szekeres et al.
21 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) is a popular party drug known to cause selective serotonergic damage. Here we examined the long-term recovery and aging of serotonergic fibers and levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) after intermittent MDMA administration (15 mg kg(-1) i.p. every 7th day for 4 weeks, MDMA ×4) and a single-dose treatment (15 mg kg(-1) i.p., MDMA...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
John Brown
1 citation
A growing body of evidence suggests that regular ‘ecstasy’ (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) use causes lasting changes to central serotonergic functioning in humans, including in the occipital lobe. Brown, Edwards, et al. [1] proposed that MDMA-related serotonergic changes in the occipital lobe may reduce lateral inhibition between occipital neurons involved in low level visual...
The Open Addiction Journal
March 29, 2011
Vanessa Gwendoline Smithies
4 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘Ecstasy’) shares psychoactive effects with drugs that possess stimulant (e.g. amphetamine, the effects of which are primarily dopaminergic) and hallucinogenic properties (e.g. LSD, which has serotonergic effects) [1]. The majority of MDMA’s distinctive effects as well as its toxicity have been linked to its actions on serotonergic neurotransmission [2]....