Structure-Activity Relationships of MDMA and Related Compounds: A New Class of Psychoactive Agents?
David F. Nichols, Robert Oberlender
Ecstasy: The Clinical, Pharmacological and Neurotoxicological Effects of the Drug MDMA January 1, 1990 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-1485-1_7 via Springer Nature
Summary
Evidence from drug discrimination studies suggests that MDMA and similar substances form a distinct pharmacological class called entactogens, separate from other known drug classes. Results from multiple laboratories, though still incomplete, support the view that entactogens have a unique pharmacology, as demonstrated by their discriminative stimulus properties, including training dose effects and patterns of complete substitution that differ from those of other compounds.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Drug discrimination Training dose Complete substitution Discriminative stimulus property |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key finding | MDMA and related substances appear to constitute a novel pharmacological class called entactogens, with discriminative stimulus properties distinct from other drug classes. |
Abstract
It has been hypothesized that MDMA and substances that possess a psychopharmacological effect similar to MDMA are members of a novel pharmacological class named entactogens [1–3]. In this chapter evidence will be presented to support this, through a discussion of the data acquired in efforts directed toward testing this hypothesis. Although these studies are far from complete, the results gathered thus far, together with those from other laboratories, support the view that the pharmacology of entactogens is clearly different from other known classes of compounds.