Repeated intermittent administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine mitigates demyelination in the brain from cuprizone-treated mice.
European journal of pharmacology March 15, 2025 Mingming Zhao, Akifumi Eguchi, Rumi Murayama et al. 6 citations
Intermittent MDMA administration (10 mg/kg, three times weekly for 6 weeks) reduced demyelination in the corpus callosum of mice treated with cuprizone, a chemical that induces myelin loss. The effect appears linked to changes in gut bacteria and metabolites, including β-D-allose, L-sorbose, and carnitine, which correlated negatively with specific microbes such as Romboutsia. These findings suggest MDMA may influence brain demyelination through the gut-brain axis, though further research is needed to clarify the roles of gut microbiota and metabolites.