Methylenedioxymethamphetamine MDMA, ecstasy

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA ecstasy) is a synthetic analog of amphetamine that produces hallucinations, an elevation in mood, and a feeling of emotional closeness . This latter property has led to Ecstasy being referred to as the hug drag . The unique properties of Ecstasy as compared to the parent compound amphetamine are believed to be due to the more selective effects of Ecstasy in promoting transporter-mediated release of serotonin. The use of Ecstasy has become a part of the culture associated with rave style dance parties. 

Scrima L, Hartman PG, Johnson EH, et al The effects of gamma-hydroxybutyrate on the sleep of narcolepsy patients a double blind study. Sleep 13 479 90, 1990 Series F, Series 1, Cormier Y Effects of enhancing slow-wave sleep by gamma-hydroxybutyrate on obstructive sleep apnea. Am Rev Respir Dis 143 1378-1383, 1992 Shannon M Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy ). Pediatr Emerg Care 16 377-380, 2000... 

In other respects the storage of 5-HT resembles that of noradrenaline with its uptake by vesicles resting on energy-dependent, vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) (see Chapter 8). Functional disruption of this transporter, either through competitive inhibition (e.g. by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy )) or dissipation... 

MAO has been inhibited. As a result, transmitter accumulates in the cytoplasm and is exported into the synapse via the membrane-bound transporter. The ensuing (impulse-independent) sympathetic arousal can be disastrous, culminating in a hypertensive crisis and stroke. Although this process is a pharmacological curiosity and certainly contributed to the demise of MAOIs, it is possibly overrated (Tyrer 1979) it has been estimated that the number of deaths associated with the use of the MAOI, tranylcypromine, amounts to only 1 per 14000 patient years. However, this sequence of events echoes exactly the acute actions of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy ) and undoubtedly accounts for some of the deaths attributed to this drug. 

Setola, V., Hufeisen, S.J., Grande-Alien, K.J., Vesely, I., Glennon, R.A., Blough, B., Rothman, R.B., and Roth, B.L., 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy ) induces fenfluraminelike proliferative actions on human cardiac valvular interstitial cells in vitro, Mol. Pharmacol. 63(6), 1223-1229, 2003. 

Lyles, J. and Cadet, J.L., Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) neurotoxicity cellular and molecular mechanisms, Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev. 42(2), 155-168, 2003. 

Schechter, M.D., Serotonergic-dopaminergic mediation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy ), Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 31(4), 817-824, 1988. 

McCann UD, Mertl M, Eligulasvili Y and Ricaurte GA (1999). Cognitive performance in (+-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy ) uses A controlled study. Psychopharmacology, 143, 417-425. 

Ricaurte GA, Yuan J and McCann UD (2000). (+—)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy )-induced serotonin neurotoxicity Studies in animals. Neuropsychobiology, 42, 5-10. 

Steele TD, McCann UD and Ricaurte GA (1994). 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA Ecstasy ) Pharmacology and toxicology in animals and humans. Addiction,... 

Garcia-Osta, A., Del Rio, J. and Frechilla, D. Increased CRE-binding activity and tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA expression induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy ) in the rat frontal cortex but not in the hippocampus. Mol Brain Res. 126 181-187,2004. 

Stimulant drugs commonly abused in the USA include methamphetamine ("crank," "crystal"), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"), and cocaine ("crack") as well as pharmaceuticals such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) and ephedrine (as such and in the herbal agent Ma-huang) (see Chapter 32). Caffeine is often added to dietary supplements sold as "metabolic enhancers" or "fat-burners" and is also sometimes combined with pseudoephedrine in underground pills sold as amphetamine substitutes. 

The release of NTs into the synaptic cleft from exocytosing synaptic vesicles has been outlined above. Dopamine release is promoted by the stimulants amphetamine and tobacco-derived nicotine. The amphetamine-derived stimulants methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) promote dopamine and serotonin release (Table 6.2). 

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