ArticleNeuroendocrinology2008
The recreational drug ecstasy disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal reproductive axis in adult male rats.
Article in Neuroendocrinology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of the MDMA Model to Address Social Impairment in Autism.Current neuropharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of MDMA treatment and cessation on sexual behaviour and testicular functions in male sprague-dawley rats.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Article
- The effect of MDMA on anterior pituitary hormones: a secondary analysis of a randomized placebo-controlled trial.Endocrine connections · 2025Article
- Toxic Effects of Methamphetamine on Reproductive Systems, Embryo Development, and Newborns: An Evidence-based Review.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Chronic Administration of Lisdexamfetamine Induces Apoptosis and Inflammation and Reduces Sperm Quality in Adult Male Rats.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2024Article
- Psychoactive drugs and male fertility: impacts and mechanisms.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2023Review
- The Effects of Folic Acid on Testicular Histology, Sperm Quality, and Spermatogenesis Indices Following 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Exposure in Adult Male Rats.Addiction & health · 2021Article
- Zinc attenuates ecstasy-induced apoptosis through downregulation of caspase-3 in cultured TM3 cells: An experimental study.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2020Article
- Substance Abuse and Male Hypogonadism.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Review
- Effects of Methamphetamine on Testes Histopathology and Spermatogenesis Indices of Adult Male Rats.Addiction & health · 2017Article
- Protective effect of pentoxifylline on male Wistar rat testicular germ cell apoptosis induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymeth amphetamine.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2016Article
- Molecular profiling of postnatal development of the hypothalamus in female and male rats.Biology of reproduction · 2012Article
- Prenatal PCBs disrupt early neuroendocrine development of the rat hypothalamus.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2011Article
- Developmental profiles of neuroendocrine gene expression in the preoptic area of male rats.Endocrinology · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Reproductive function involves an interaction of three regulatory levels: hypothalamus, pituitary, and gonad. The primary drive upon this system comes from hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurosecretory cells, which receive afferent inputs from other neurotransmitter systems in the central nervous system to result in the proper coordination of reproduction and the environment. Here, we hypothesized that the recreational drug (+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy'), which acts through several of the neurotransmitter systems that affect GnRH neurons, suppresses the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal reproductive axis of male rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats self-administered saline or MDMA either once (acute) or for 20 days (chronic) and were euthanized 7 days following the last administration. We quantified hypothalamic GnRH mRNA, serum luteinizing hormone concentrations, and serum testosterone levels as indices of hypothalamic, pituitary, and gonadal functions, respectively. The results indicate that the hypothalamic and gonadal levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis are significantly altered by MDMA, with GnRH mRNA and serum testosterone levels suppressed in rats administered MDMA compared to saline. Furthermore, our finding that hypothalamic GnRH mRNA levels are suppressed in the context of low testosterone concentrations suggests that the central GnRH neurosecretory system may be a primary target of inhibitory regulation by MDMA usage.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.