PubMed · 2569704
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R Laverty, B J Logan. 1989-08-23. Ecstasy abuse.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2569704/
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A laboratory study interested in the analysis of human hair for drugs-of-abuse was conducted to determine if drugs could be detected and quantified from hair. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) techniques followed by GC-MS analysis were applied to extract amphetamines from hair. The group of amphetamines included methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) and internal standard mephentermine (MP). To validate information on amphetamine use in hair, powdered hair samples free from drugs were collected and soaked in a known amphetamine standard solution. Authentic fortified case hair samples taken from known drug users known to have consumed amphetamines were also analyzed for amphetamine. Results from this study show that amphetamine use can be detected in spiked and authentic fortified human hair using SFE techniques for qualitative and quantitative reproducible results.
The serotonergic deficits induced by 3,4-methylenedioxyethamphetamine (MDEA, "eve"), were examined and compared with 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"). A single dose of MDEA (10, 20, or 40 mg/kg IP) induced a dose-related hyperthermia, but only the highest dose significantly reduced 5-HT content and 5-HT transporter density in the frontal cortex and in the hippocampus 7 days later. Long-term serotonergic deficits were much more marked when MDEA was given repeatedly (40 mg/kg IP., b.i.d., for 4 consecutive days). Single or repeated administration of MDEA induced no change on 5-HT1A receptor density in the frontal cortex, brain stem, or hippocampus, although 3 h after both treatments plasma corticosterone levels were significantly increased. MDEA (5-20 mg/kg, IP) produced significant retention deficits in a passive-avoidance learning task. Conversely, 7 days after the repeated administration of MDEA (40 mg/kg b.i.d., for 4 consecutive days) no effect on passive-avoidance performance was observed unless rats were treated again with another dose of MDEA (20 mg/kg IP) 30 min before the training trial. The 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, WAY 100635, prevented the impairment in retention performance induced by 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), but not by MDEA or MDMA, indicating that the effect of these amphetamine derivates was not mediated by 5-HT1A receptor activation. The results suggest the risk of serotonergic dysfunction associated with MDEA abuse in humans.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of the serotonin releasing amphetamine derivatives methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and fenfluramine (FEN) on immunity in rats. Similar to MDA and MDMA, FEN reduced the number of circulating lymphocytes, provoked a suppression of Con A-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation and total IFN-gamma and IL-10 production in diluted whole blood cultures. Thus the non-psychostimulant amphetamine derivative FEN, shares the ability of the psychostimulant methylenedioxy-substituted amphetamine derivatives to alter these indices of immune function in the rat. However, when Con A-stimulated cytokine production was normalised for the number of lymphocytes in culture in order to examine cytokine production at a cellular level, the effect of the amphetamine derivatives begins to diverge. FEN shares with MDMA and MDA the ability to suppress production of the Th2 type cytokine IL-10. However the effect of these drugs on Th1 type cytokine secretion was much more complex. While the methylendioxy-substituted amphetamines increases the secretion of the Th1 type cytokine IL-2 without altering the related Th1 type cytokine IFN-gamma, FEN did not alter IL-2 secretion, but suppressed IFN-gamma secretion. In addition to these effects on T-cell responses, all three drugs inhibited LPS-induced TNF-alpha secretion from diluted whole blood cultures suggesting that macrophage activity is impaired following treatment. In all, these data extend our previous findings concerning the effects of MDMA on the immune system and demonstrate that the related serotonin releasers MDA and FEN also provoke immunological changes in rats.