Synthetic cathinones in drug-facilitated sexual assault: A case report involving the novel generation substituted cathinone N-ethylpentedrone and a review of the literature.

A 36-year-old man was drugged and sexually assaulted; the novel synthetic cathinone N-ethyl-pentedrone (NEPD) was found in his blood and urine. Five synthetic cathinones have been linked to drug-facilitated sexual assault: methylenedioxypyrovalerone, 4-methylethcathinone, α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, mephedrone, α-pyrrolidinohexiophenone, and methylone—the most common. Methylone, a β-keto analog of MDMA, shares its entactogenic effects. NEPD, however, produces only slightly entactogenic effects in a minority of users, making it more suited to chemsex than to drug-facilitated sexual assault, though the boundary between these contexts can be blurry.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is not uncommon. Indeed, the effects associated with the use of this substance may lead to disinhibition. Several synthetic cathinones, such as mephedrone or methylone, also possess marked entactogenic properties. This manuscript aims to (i) report a DFSA case involving a novel cathinone derivative, namely N-ethyl-pentedrone (NEPD) and (ii) review previously reported DFSA cases involving synthetic cathinones. Using liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), NEPD was detected in both plasma and urine collected from a 36-year-old male who had been victim of DFSA. Furthermore, an exhaustive, non-period-specific English-language literature search was performed using several different electronic databases to identify DFSA cases involving synthetic cathinones. Overall, five synthetic cathinones have been associated with DFSA:methylenedioxypyrovalerone, 4-methylethcathinone, α -pyrrolidinopentiophenone, mephedrone, α -pyrrolidinohexiophenone, and methylone, which appears to be the most frequently reported. Methylone is the β-keto analog of MDMA, with which it shares substantial pharmacological similarities. Indeed, the pharmacological effects of methylone are similar to those associated with MDMA. By contrast, little is known regarding NEPD's pharmacological effects in humans. Based on subjective reports, NEPD can produce both positive and negative effects in human. Unlike what is reported in the case of methylone or mephedrone, only a small minority of NEPD users report slightly entactogenics effects. Such properties theoretically make NEPD more suitable for use in a chemsex context than in DFSA context; even though, the boundary between these two specific forms of sexualized drug use can sometimes appear tenuous.