OPEN Foundation

L. Howell

Sensitization to the prosocial effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

March 25, 2019 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Neuroscience, Other subjects, Papers, Phenomenology, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , , , ,

Abstract

The recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has well documented prosocial effects and is currently under clinical investigation as a treatment for patients with PTSD, autism, and other conditions. Early clinical trials have found that MDMA-assisted therapy may have robust long-lasting therapeutic effects, yet the mechanism by which acute treatments produce these long-term effects is unclear. Sensitization to certain behavioral drug effects is a common rodent model used to assess long-lasting neurobiological adaptations induced by acute drug treatments. Nine independent experiments were undertaken to investigate if and how mice sensitize to the prosocial effects of MDMA. When treated with 7.8 mg/kg MDMA and paired every other day for a week, MDMA-induced social interaction increased precipitously across treatment sessions. This previously unreported phenomenon was investigated and found to be heavily influenced by a social context and 5-HT2AR activation. Social sensitization did not appear to develop if mice were administered MDMA in isolation, and pretreatment with MDL100907, a selective 5-HT2AR antagonist, inhibited the development of social sensitization. However, when MDL100907 was administered to mice that had already been sensitized, it did not attenuate social interaction, suggesting that 5-HT2AR activity may be necessary for the development of social sensitization but not the expression of MDMA-induced social behavior. Additional investigation is warranted to further explore the phenomenon of social sensitization and to determine the underlying neurobiological mechanisms.
Curry, D. W., Berro, L. F., Belkoff, A. R., Sulima, A., Rice, K. C., & Howell, L. L. (2019). Sensitization to the prosocial effects of 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Neuropharmacology, 151, 13-20., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.03.017
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Ketamine and pharmacological imaging: use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate mechanisms of action

November 30, 2017 / Depression, Ketamine, Neuroscience, Other subjects, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychosis, Publications / By / , ,

Abstract

Ketamine has been used as a pharmacological model for schizophrenia as subanesthetic infusions have been shown to produce temporary schizophrenia-like symptoms in healthy humans. More recently, ketamine has emerged as a potential treatment for multiple psychiatric disorders, including treatment-resistant depression and suicidal ideation. However, the mechanisms underlying both the psychotomimetic and the therapeutic effects of ketamine remain poorly understood. This review provides an overview of what is known of the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of ketamine and details what functional MRI studies have yielded at a systems level focused on brain circuitry. Multiple analytic approaches show that ketamine exerts robust and consistent effects at the whole-brain level. These effects are highly conserved across human and nonhuman primates, validating the use of nonhuman primate models for further investigations with ketamine. Regional analysis of brain functional connectivity suggests that the therapeutic potential of ketamine may be derived from a strengthening of executive control circuitry, making it an intriguing candidate for the treatment of drug abuse. There are still important questions about the mechanism of action and the therapeutic potential of ketamine that can be addressed using appropriate functional neuroimaging techniques.
Maltbie, E. A., Kaundinya, G. S., & Howell, L. L. (2017). Ketamine and pharmacological imaging: use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate mechanisms of action. Behavioural Pharmacology, 28(8), 610-622. 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000354
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Separating the agony from ecstasy: R(-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine has prosocial and therapeutic-like effects without signs of neurotoxicity in mice

October 6, 2017 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , , ,

Abstract

S,R(+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (SR-MDMA) is an amphetamine derivative with prosocial and putative therapeutic effects. Ongoing clinical trials are investigating it as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions. However, its potential for adverse effects such as hyperthermia and neurotoxicity may limit its clinical viability. We investigated the hypothesis that one of the two enantiomers of SR-MDMA, R-MDMA, would retain the prosocial and therapeutic effects but with fewer adverse effects. Using male Swiss Webster and C57BL/6 mice, the prosocial effects of R-MDMA were measured using a social interaction test, and the therapeutic-like effects were assessed using a Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction paradigm relevant to PTSD. Locomotor activity and body temperature were tracked after administration, and neurotoxicity was evaluated post-mortem. R-MDMA significantly increased murine social interaction and facilitated extinction of conditioned freezing. Yet, unlike racemic MDMA, it did not increase locomotor activity, produce signs of neurotoxicity, or increase body temperature. A key pharmacological difference between R-MDMA and racemic MDMA is that R-MDMA has much lower potency as a dopamine releaser. Pretreatment with a selective dopamine D1 receptor antagonist prevented SR-MDMA-induced hyperthermia, suggesting that differential dopamine signaling may explain some of the observed differences between the treatments. Together, these results indicate that the prosocial and therapeutic effects of SR-MDMA may be separable from the stimulant, thermogenic, and potential neurotoxic effects. To what extent these findings translate to humans will require further investigation, but these data suggest that R-MDMA could be a more viable therapeutic option for the treatment of PTSD and other disorders for which SR-MDMA is currently being investigated.
Curry, D. W., Young, M. B., Tran, A. N., Daoud, G. E., & Howell, L. L. (2018). Separating the agony from ecstasy: R (–)-3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine has prosocial and therapeutic-like effects without signs of neurotoxicity in mice. Neuropharmacology, 128, 196-206. 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.10.003
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Inhibition of serotonin transporters disrupts the enhancement of fear memory extinction by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

July 24, 2017 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology / By / , , , , , ,

Abstract

Rationale

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) persistently improves symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when combined with psychotherapy. Studies in rodents suggest that these effects can be attributed to enhancement of fear memory extinction. Therefore, MDMA may improve the effects of exposure-based therapy for PTSD, particularly in treatment-resistant patients. However, given MDMA’s broad pharmacological profile, further investigation is warranted before moving to a complex clinical population.

Objectives

We aimed to inform clinical research by providing a translational model of MDMA’s effect, and elucidating monoaminergic mechanisms through which MDMA enhances fear extinction.

Methods

We explored the importance of monoamine transporters targeted by MDMA to fear memory extinction, as measured by reductions in conditioned freezing and fear-potentiated startle (FPS) in mice. Mice were treated with selective inhibitors of individual monoamine transporters prior to combined MDMA treatment and fear extinction training.

Results

MDMA enhanced the lasting extinction of FPS. Acute and chronic treatment with a 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) inhibitor blocked MDMA’s effect on fear memory extinction. Acute inhibition of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) transporters had no effect. 5-HT release alone did not enhance extinction. Blockade of MDMA’s effect by 5-HTT inhibition also downregulated 5-HT2A-mediated behavior, and 5-HT2A antagonism disrupted MDMA’s effect on extinction.

Conclusions

We validate enhancement of fear memory extinction by MDMA in a translational behavioral model, and reveal the importance of 5-HTT and 5-HT2A receptors to this effect. These observations support future clinical research of MDMA as an adjunct to exposure therapy, and provide important pharmacological considerations for clinical use in a population frequently treated with 5-HTT inhibitors.

Young, M. B., Norrholm, S. D., Khoury, L. M., Jovanovic, T., Rauch, S. A., Reiff, C. M., … & Howell, L. L. (2017). Inhibition of serotonin transporters disrupts the enhancement of fear memory extinction by 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Psychopharmacology, 234(19), 2883-2895. 10.1007/s00213-017-4684-8
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3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning

September 15, 2015 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, MDMA, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

Acutely administered 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘ecstasy’) has been proposed to have long-term positive effects on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms when combined with psychotherapy. No preclinical data support a mechanistic basis for these claims. Given the persistent nature of psychotherapeutic gains facilitated by MDMA, we hypothesized that MDMA improves fear extinction learning, a key process in exposure-based therapies for PTSD. In these experiments, mice were first exposed to cued fear conditioning and treated with drug vehicle or MDMA before extinction training 2 days later. MDMA was administered systemically and also directly targeted to brain structures known to contribute to extinction. In addition to behavioral measures of extinction, changes in mRNA levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) and Fos were measured after MDMA treatment and extinction. MDMA (7.8 mg kg−1) persistently and robustly enhanced long-term extinction when administered before extinction training. MDMA increased the expression of Fos in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas increases in Bdnf expression were observed only in the amygdala after extinction training. Extinction enhancements were recapitulated when MDMA (1  μg) was infused directly into the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), and enhancement was abolished when BDNF signaling was inhibited before extinction. These findings suggest that MDMA enhances fear memory extinction through a BDNF-dependent mechanism, and that MDMA may be a useful adjunct to exposure-based therapies for PTSD and other anxiety disorders characterized by altered fear learning.

Young, M. B., Andero, R., Ressler, K. J., & Howell, L. L. (2015). 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning. Translational Psychiatry, 5(9), e634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/tp.2015.138

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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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