Methylone is a rapid-acting neuroplastogen with less off-target activity than MDMA
Frontiers in Neuroscience February 7, 2024 Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Martin Stogniew, Blake Mandell et al. 6 citations
Methylone, a monoamine uptake inhibitor and releaser currently in clinical development for PTSD, produced rapid changes in gene expression in rat brain areas linked to PTSD and major depressive disorder. In the amygdala, methylone regulated myelin-related genes; in the frontal cortex, it upregulated genes involved in neuroplasticity. Unlike MDMA, methylone showed no off-target activity at 168 tested GPCRs, including 5HT2A and 5HT2C receptors. These results suggest methylone acts as a rapid-acting neuroplastogen with higher specificity and fewer off-target effects than MDMA, supporting its potential for treating PTSD and possibly other neuropsychiatric disorders.