Is the Ecstasy-induced ipsilateral rotation in 6-hydroxydopamine unilaterally lesioned rats dopamine independent?
Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) July 1, 2003 H B Lebsanft, A Mayerhofer, K-A Kovar et al.
MDMA and three of its derivatives (MBDB, MDE, and MDA) all caused rats to turn in circles toward the side of a brain lesion that mimics Parkinson's disease. MDA produced the strongest effect. Blocking serotonin reuptake with citalopram reduced the turning caused by MDMA, but blocking serotonin synthesis with PCPA had only a small effect. This suggests that the rotational behavior induced by MDMA is not fully explained by serotonin release or by the drugs' direct dopamine-like activity.