ArticleJournal of neurochemistry2012
Mephedrone, an abused psychoactive component of 'bath salts' and methamphetamine congener, does not cause neurotoxicity to dopamine nerve endings of the striatum.
Article in Journal of neurochemistry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neurobehavioral Disorders and Cognitive Impairment in Methcathinone Exposure: A Systematic Review of Literature.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Synthetic Cathinones: Epidemiology, Toxicity, Potential for Abuse, and Current Public Health Perspective.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Relationship between GABA-Ergic System and the Expression of Mephedrone-Induced Reward in Rats-Behavioral, Chromatographic and In Vivo Imaging Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Neurochemical and Cardiovascular Effects of 4-Chloro Ring-Substituted Synthetic Cathinones in Rats.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2023Article
- Impact of Mephedrone on Fear Memory in Adolescent Rats: Involvement of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Receptor.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Alteration of Ethanol Reward by Prior Mephedrone Exposure: The Role of Age and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9).International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Central Effects of the Designer Drug Mephedrone in Mice-Basic Studies.Brain sciences · 2022Article
- Pharmacokinetics of Synthetic Cathinones Found in Bath Salts in Mouse Brain and Plasma Using High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2021Article
- Vulnerability factors for mephedrone-induced conditioned place preference in rats-the impact of sex differences, social-conditioning and stress.Psychopharmacology · 2021Article
- An updated review on synthetic cathinones.Archives of toxicology · 2021Review
- Insight into Glutamatergic Involvement in Rewarding Effects of Mephedrone in Rats: In Vivo and Ex Vivo Study.Molecular neurobiology · 2021Article
- Psychoactive Drugs-From Chemical Structure to Oxidative Stress Related to Dopaminergic Neurotransmission. A Review.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Alcohol Co-Administration Changes Mephedrone-Induced Alterations of Neuronal Activity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
- Psychoactive Bath Salts and Neurotoxicity Risk.Turkish journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2020Review
- Synthetic psychoactive cathinones: hypothermia and reduced lethality compared to methamphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2020Article
- Abuse potential and toxicity of the synthetic cathinones (i.e., "Bath salts").Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2020Review
- Differential effects of synthetic psychoactive cathinones and amphetamine stimulants on the gut microbiome in mice.PloS one · 2020Article
- Cognitive deficits and neurotoxicity induced by synthetic cathinones: is there a role for neuroinflammation?Psychopharmacology · 2019Review
- Dissociation between hypothermia and neurotoxicity caused by mephedrone and methcathinone in TPH2 knockout mice.Psychopharmacology · 2019Article
- DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Cathinone-Derived Psychostimulants.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) is a β-ketoamphetamine with close structural analogy to substituted amphetamines and cathinone derivatives. Abuse of mephedrone has increased dramatically in recent years and has become a significant public health problem in the United States and Europe. Unfortunately, very little information is available on the pharmacological and neurochemical actions of mephedrone. In light of the proven abuse potential of mephedrone and considering its similarity to methamphetamine and methcathinone, it is particularly important to know if mephedrone shares with these agents an ability to cause damage to dopamine nerve endings of the striatum. Accordingly, we treated mice with a binge-like regimen of mephedrone (4 × 20 or 40 mg/kg) and examined the striatum for evidence of neurotoxicity 2 or 7 days after treatment. While mephedrone caused hyperthermia and locomotor stimulation, it did not lower striatal levels of dopamine, tyrosine hydroxylase or the dopamine transporter under any of the treatment conditions used presently. Furthermore, mephedrone did not cause microglial activation in striatum nor did it increase glial fibrillary acidic protein levels. Taken together, these surprising results suggest that mephedrone, despite its numerous mechanistic overlaps with methamphetamine and the cathinone derivatives, does not cause neurotoxicity to dopamine nerve endings of the striatum.
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Registered trials
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