Discriminative stimulus properties of α-ethyltryptamine (α-ET) in rats: α-ET-like effects of MDMA, MDA and aryl-monomethoxy substituted derivatives of α-ET.
Psychopharmacology June 1, 2025 Carmen Abate, Richard Young, Malgorzata Dukat et al. 2 citations
The drug α-ethyltryptamine (α-ET), once used as an antidepressant and structurally related to the hallucinogen α-methyltryptamine, produces stimulus effects in rats that are similar to those of the phenylalkylamines MDMA (Ecstasy) and MDA (Love Drug). Rats trained to discriminate α-ET from saline showed full generalization to both MDMA and MDA. Four synthetic analogs of α-ET produced varied results: 4-OMe α-ET showed negligible α-ET-like effects, 5-OMe α-ET modest effects, while 6-OMe α-ET and 7-OMe α-ET fully generalized but with a narrow dose range for the former. α-ET appears to exert a complex stimulus combining features of MDMA, MDA, hallucinogens, and stimulants, suggesting it is a tryptamine counterpart to these phenylalkylamines.