MDMA alters the response of the mammalian circadian clock in hamsters: Effects on re-entrainment and triazolam-induced phase shifts

The Effect of Catecholamine Depletion by Alpha-Methyl-Para-Tyrosine on Measures of Cognitive Performance and Sleep in Abstinent MDMA Users

“…Second, with regard to sleep abnormalities, there is little known about the long-term effects of most recreational drugs of abuse on sleep architecture. However, given preclinical reports of lasting effects of MDMA on circadian regulation (Gardani et al, 2005;Biello and Dafters, 2001) and the known roles of 5-HT and catecholamines in sleep regulation, it is certainly plausible that sleep abnormalities in the present study could be related to lasting effects of MDMA on 5-HT systems as well as altered 5-HT/catecholamine interactions. Third, as with all studies involving retrospective accounts of drug use, drug use histories could be clouded by the passage of time, inaccuracy of recall (given memory deficits), or because drugs believed to be MDMA may have been contaminated with other drugs.…”

“…Although it could be argued that the development of compensatory mechanisms diminishes the clinical importance of MDMA-induced neurotoxicity, an alternative view is that MDMA-induced lesions produce a brain milieu of diminished functional reserve that may become clinically apparent under various forms of stress. One method that has proved useful for unmasking such 'subclinical' deficits in animals treated with neurotoxic doses of MDMA has been the use of pharmacological challenge (Poland et al, 1997;Virden and Baker, 1999;Shankaran and Gudelsky, 1999;Gardani et al, 2005). The foregoing studies demonstrate that animals with MDMA-induced lesions that exhibit normal behaviors or physiology at baseline have abnormal thermal, behavioral and circadian responses to pharmacological challenges with drugs that influence these 5-HTmediated functional domains.…”

MDMA induces Per1, Per2 and c-fos gene expression in rat suprachiasmatic nuclei

“…At ZT6: the MDMA group had n=4, n=6 and n=6 animals at 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively, while the saline group had n=5, n=6 and n=5 animals at 30, 60 and 120 min. At ZT16: the MDMA group had n=5, n=3 and n=6 animals at 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively, while the saline group had n=4, n=6 and n=4 animals at 30, 60 and 120 min Previous studies have suggested that the circadian timing system may be disrupted by MDMA (Colbron et al 2002;Gardani et al 2005;Wallace et al 2001), with even a single dose affecting the free-running activity rhythm (Ogeil et al 2010), attenuating the normal response to photic stimuli in rats (Balogh et al 2004) and nonphotic stimuli in hamsters (Gardani et al 2005). However, there is uncertainty as to whether these changes may have been caused indirectly, either by damage to the serotonergic system caused by the multiple high dose MDMA treatment regimen (Schuhler et al 1998;Xie et al 2006) or due to the altered integrity of the serotonin transporter subsequent to MDMA treatment (McGregor et al 2003).…”

“…MDMA pretreatment altered the ability of the circadian system of hamsters to entrain to a new light-dark cycle (Gardani et al 2005) following administration of multiple doses across a series of days (day 1: 10 mg/kg, day 2: 15 mg/kg, day 3: 20 mg/kg). A single dose of MDMA has also been shown to disrupt the daily distribution of activity of rats held under a 12-12 h light-dark cycle (Balogh et al 2004;Ogeil et al 2010).…”

Chronopharmacology and Antimicrobial Therapeutics

“…Certain drugs of use in clinical practice, e.g. antidepressives as imipramine and lithium [81], opioid-agonists as fentanyl [82,83], benzodiazepines as triazolam [84], 2 adrenoceptor agonists as fenoterol o procaterol [52], sleep-inducer melatonin [85] and experimental drugs as tetrodoxin [86] and Nmethyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) [84] can modify the clock phase.…”