Bile acids and the gut microbiome are involved in the hyperthermia mediated by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
Scientific reports June 24, 2024 Srishti Rana, Jeremy R Canfield, Christopher S Ward et al. 5 citations
Hyperthermia from the drug MDMA can be life-threatening. The gut microbiome's production of bile acids appears to play a key role. In rats, MDMA caused a significant rise in body temperature and reduced serum concentrations of three bile acids (cholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, and deoxycholic acid) 60 minutes after treatment. Pretreatment with antibiotics depleted bile acids and reversed the hyperthermia to hypothermia. Antibiotic-treated rats also showed distinct gut bacterial communities with reduced diversity and fewer bacterial genes related to bile acid metabolism. The findings suggest that gut bacterial bile acids might be essential for MDMA-induced hyperthermia.