MDEA, also known as "eve," is a ring-substituted amphetamine chemically and pharmacologically similar to MDMA. It produces psychomotor stimulation, mild perceptual changes, feelings of closeness, positive emotional states, and sympathomimetic physical effects. The term "ecstasy" now refers to a group of nearly identical compounds including MDA, MDMA, MDEA, and MBDB, and many pills contain mixtures. This review describes MDEA-specific pharmacodynamics and kinetics from animal and human challenge studies, and presents case reports of fatalities with toxicologically confirmed MDEA. Evidence for serotonergic neurotoxicity comes only from animal studies; human risk is unclear because users consume impure substances. Future animal studies using human-like dosing patterns and directly comparing individual ring-substituted amphetamines are needed to resolve controversies about neurotoxicity and its functional consequences.
Ibogaine, a psychoactive alkaloid from the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, has been claimed in US patents since the 1980s to treat drug addiction, with over 60 scientific publications on the topic. It has acute and prolonged effects on neurochemistry and behavior. Its metabolite, noribogaine, is produced soon after oral administration. Though chemically similar, ibogaine and noribogaine have different binding profiles. In rodents, both compounds decreased morphine and cocaine intake and modulated dopaminergic transmission. Rats trained to discriminate ibogaine from saline fully generalized to noribogaine, suggesting noribogaine primarily drives ibogaine's discriminative stimulus. Ibogaine-induced neurotoxicity occurs at doses much higher than proposed human doses, but caution is needed when extrapolating rodent data. Definitive clinical validation remains unavailable, but ibogaine has opened new perspectives for addiction pharmacotherapies.