ArticleNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2020
Detrimental effects of the 'bath salt' methylenedioxypyrovalerone on social play behavior in male rats.
Article in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Synthetic Cathinones and Neurotoxicity Risks: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- To play or not to play? Effects of social isolation length and stimulus rat familiarity on social play engagement in three laboratory rat strains.Physiology & behavior · 2025Article
- Early Life Social Isolation Dysregulates Social Reward Processing, BDNF Signaling, and Intracellular Vesicular Sorting in the Nucleus Accumbens of Male and Female Rats.Journal of neurochemistry · 2025Article
- Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS). A New Threat for Young Drug Users with Forensic-Toxicological Implications.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Sex and Gender Differences in the Effects of Novel Psychoactive Substances.Brain sciences · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is the most popular synthetic cathinone found in products marketed as 'bath salts', widely abused among teenagers and young adults. Synthetic cathinones have pharmacological effects resembling those of psychostimulants, which are known to disrupt a variety of social behaviors. However, despite the popular use of MDPV by young people in social contexts, information about its effects on social behavior is scarce. To investigate the impact of MDPV on social behavior at young age, and the underlying neurobehavioral mechanisms, we focused on social play behavior. Social play behavior is the most characteristic social behavior displayed by young mammals and it is crucial for neurobehavioral development. Treatment with MDPV reduced social play behavior in both juvenile and young adult male rats, and its play-suppressant effect was subject to tolerance but not sensitization. As the behavioral effects of MDPV have been ascribed to dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission, and given the role of these neurotransmitters in social play, we investigated the involvement of dopamine and noradrenaline in the play-suppressant effects of MDPV. The effects of MDPV on social play were blocked by either the α2 adrenoceptor antagonist RX821002 or the dopamine receptor antagonist flupenthixol, given alone or together at sub-effective doses. In sum, MDPV selectively suppresses the most vigorous social behavior of developing rats through both noradrenergic and dopaminergic mechanisms. This study provides important preclinical evidence of the deleterious effects of MDPV on social behavior, and as such increases our understanding of the neurobehavioral effects of this popular cathinone.
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