Untitled

Abstract

A case study is described of a patient who was intoxicated after the intake of so-called herbal stimulants. A visit to a physician after the intoxication prompted to this investigation and the case was examined for its direct cause. An interview with the patient revealed that the source of the herbal stimulants was a so-called 'S-5 tablet'. Information provided on the packings of the tablet only indicated the presence of natural alkaloids and vitamins. Toxicological analysis however proved that the 'S-5 tablet' contained para-methylthioamphetamine (MTA), mainly. MTA is a relative unknown amphetamine designer drug, which has only been studied as a model compound in some structure-activity relationship studies. The fact that MTA appeared in tablets was therefore completely unexpected. Not only the potential abuse of this new amphetamine designer drug is a serious matter of concern, but also the misleading information provided with the tablet.

Metabolism of Designer Drugs of Abuse

“…In these cases, sympathomimetic effects, known for amphetamine derivatives, were observed [65][66][67][68][69]. The slow onset of effects of 4-MTA compared to MDMA has been discussed as a reason for a higher risk of adverse effects.…”

Structure elucidation of nanogram quantities of unknown designer drugs based on phenylalkylamine derivates by ion trap multiple mass spectrometry

“…Numerous substituents are introduced into the aromatic ring. Most common are -H, -OCH 3 , and -O-CH 2 -O-(methylenedioxy) groups in different combinations, but also -CH 3 , -CH 2 CH 3 , -OCH 2 CH 3 , -SCH 3 , -SCH 2 CH 3 , -Cl, -Br, -I, and others are described in the literature [6,17,26,28,29].…”

“…Therefore, elucidation of the structure of closely related analogues remains tricky and time-consuming. Recently published examples are N-methyl-1-phenethylamine [24], PMMA [25], 4-MTA [26], and 2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenylethylamine) [27].…”

Designer drugs: aspectos analíticos e biológicos

“…Alguns estudos têm sido publicados sobre o processo de biotransformação de substâncias psicoativas, principalmente das feniletilaminas. 50,51 Para a 2C-B, estudos investigaram o processo da biotransformação, procurando identificá-la qualitativa e quantitativamente em hepatócitos de ratos 52 e metabólitos na urina. 5,51,53,54 Foi publicado, também, o processo de biotransformação hepático da 2C-B em seis diferentes espécies, incluindo humanos e camundongos.…”