Are there sex differences associated with the effects of ecstasy/3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)?

Disruption of prepulse inhibition by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): comparison between male and female wild-type and 5-HT1A receptor knockout mice

“…This observation is consistent with previous studies which have suggested sex differences in the effects of MDMA (reviewed in Allott & Redman, 2007). For example, the subjective neuropsychological effects of MDMA were stronger in women than in men (Liechti et al 2001a) although physiological effects and long-term sideeffects were more pronounced in men than in women (Allott & Redman, 2007 ;Liechti et al 2001a).…”

“…Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the effect of MDMA on PPI in WT C57Bl/6 mice and 5-HT 1A R knockout mice. We also compared male and female mice as previous studies have suggested sex differences in the action of MDMA, generally showing that females are more sensitive to its effects than males (Allott & Redman, 2007 ;Liechti et al 2001a ;Palenicek et al 2005 ;Walker et al 2007). …”

Are Females More Sensitive to MDMA-Related Discriminative Stimuli?

“…However, the partial generalisation to the MDMA training cue produced by substitution with carbetocin suggests that oxytocin receptor activation alone cannot explain all interoceptive changes that arise following MDMA use. The evidence for sex differences in the perceived effects of MDMA as well as drugs that may have MDMA-like interoceptive cues is consistent with earlier observations that women/females are more sensitive to the psychological effects of MDMA; conversely, the relative sensitivity of male rats to the ratesuppressing effects is supported by studies that have found men/males to be more sensitive to physical drug effects (see review in [8]). …”

Neurocognitive function in current and ex-users of ecstasy in comparison to both matched polydrug-using controls and drug-naïve controls

“…Further, our conclusions relate to male ecstasy users only. While a recent review found that there appeared to be gender differences in the acute and sub-acute effects of MDMA, there is no clear evidence of gender difference in cognitive function after regular ecstasy use (Allott and Redman 2007).…”