Use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) has increased dramatically in recent years, yet little is known about its effects on the developing brain. Neonatal rats were administered MDMA on days 1-10 or 11-20 (analogous to early and late human third trimester brain development). MDMA exposure had no effect on survival but did affect body weight gain during treatment. After treatme...

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") releases serotonin and dopamine. The role for dopamine in mediating the effects of MDMA has not yet been examined in humans. We investigated the effect of pretreatment with the dopamine D(2) antagonist haloperidol (1.4 mg i.v.) on psychological and physiological responses to MDMA (1.5 mg/kg p.o.) in 14 healthy volunteers using a double-blind p...

The use of the street drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly referred to as ecstasy, has become increasingly prevalent amongst teenagers and young adults in the United States and many other parts of the world. While most anesthesiologists are facile with the intricacies of managing patients intoxicated by alcohol, cocaine and narcotics the new "club" drugs present a challenge, espe...

A recent traffic fatality has been attributed to the use of the drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). The deceased was a 29-year-old white male with no known history of drug abuse. Toxicological analysis detected MDMA and metabolite methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) in the blood, urine, and vitreous humor specimens submitted for analysis. The concentrations of MDMA in clotted blood, sodium f...

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or "ecstasy") is a recreationally used drug with remarkable and characteristic prosocial effects. In spite of abundant attention in the scientific literature, the mechanism of its prosocial effects has not been elucidated in humans. Recently, research in animals has suggested that the neuropeptide oxytocin may induce these effects. In a double blind, rand...

Cognitive task performance was assessed in three groups of young people: 10 regular users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) who had taken 'ecstasy' 10 times or more; 10 novice MDMA users who had taken 'ecstasy' one to nine times; and 10 control subjects who had never taken MDMA. A computerized battery of cognitive tasks (Cognitive Drug Research system) was undertaken on a day when sub...

The abuse of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) during pregnancy is of concern. MDMA treatment of rats during a period of brain growth analogous to late human gestation leads to neurochemical and behavioral changes. MDMA from postnatal day (P)11-20 in rats produces reductions in serotonin and deficits in spatial and route-based navigation. In this experiment we examined the impact of MDMA fro...

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 percep...

A total of 137 urine samples and 46 serum samples, corresponding to 154 self-confessed designer drugs consumers in Ibiza island, were analyzed for the presence of designer drugs: amphetamine and amphetamine derivatives (methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA), methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), p-methoxymethylamphetamine (PMMA), p-methoxyamphet...

OBJECTIVE(S) 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is one of the most popular drugs of abuse in the world with hallucinogenic properties that has been shown to induce apoptosis in liver cells. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of pentoxifylline (PTX) on liver damage induced by acute administration of MDMA in Wistar rat. MATERIALS AND METHODS Animals were administered with ...