Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29248945›Full record

ReviewPsychopharmacology2018

(±)-MDMA and its enantiomers: potential therapeutic advantages of R(-)-MDMA.

Elizabeth G Pitts, Daniel W Curry, Karly N Hampshire, Matthew B Young, Leonard L Howell

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Psychopharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Acute effects of R-MDMA, S-MDMA, and racemic MDMA in a randomized double-blind cross-over trial in healthy participants.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Trial
  4. Stereoselective, sex-dependent 5-HTNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  5. 5-HTMolecular psychiatry · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Effects of congeners of amphetamine on the human heart.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2024
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics and entactogens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Worsening of the Toxic Effects of (±)International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Elizabeth G PittsYerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
Daniel W CurryYerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
Karly N HampshireYerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
Matthew B YoungYerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA.
Leonard L HowellYerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA. lhowell@emory.edu.
Emory University · USYale University · US

Funding

IRACDA Fellowships in Research and Science Training (FIRST)K12GM000680 · NIGMS · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI BROWN, LOU ANN S, MCCARTY, NAEL A · 2000 to 2024
$41.2M
Neuropharmacology of Abused Stimulants in Nonhuman PrimatesK05DA031246 · NIDA · EMORY UNIVERSITY · PI HOWELL, LEONARD L · 2012 to 2016
$619k
NIDA NIH HHS K05 DA031246NIGMS NIH HHS K21 GM000680NIH HHS P51OD11132
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The use of (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ((±)-MDMA) as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of psychiatric and behavioral disorders dates back over 50 years. Only in recent years have controlled and peer-reviewed preclinical and clinical studies lent support to (±)-MDMA's hypothesized clinical utility. However, the clinical utility of (±)-MDMA is potentially mitigated by a range of demonstrated adverse effects. One potential solution could lie in the individual S(+) and R(-) enantiomers that comprise (±)-MDMA. Individual enantiomers of racemic compounds have been employed in psychiatry to improve a drug's therapeutic index. Although no research has explored the individual effects of either S(+)-MDMA or R(-)-MDMA in humans in a controlled manner, preclinical research has examined similarities and differences between the two molecules and the racemic compound. This review addresses information related to the pharmacodynamics, neurotoxicity, physiological effects, and behavioral effects of S(+)-MDMA and R(-)-MDMA that might guide preclinical and clinical research. The current preclinical evidence suggests that R(-)-MDMA may provide an improved therapeutic index, maintaining the therapeutic effects of (±)-MDMA with a reduced side effect profile, and that future investigations should investigate the therapeutic potential of R(-)-MDMA.

Indexed as

AnimalsHallucinogensHumansMental DisordersN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineStereoisomerismStress, PsychologicalHallucinogensN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineEnantiomerIsomerMDMAR(−)-MDMATherapeutic

Identifiers

PMID29248945
OpenAlexW2774218904

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.