Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience; Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 30 Jul 2012 - 12:00 PDT
Over the last 5 years, synthetic stimulants known as "bath salts" have become more popular amongst recreational drug users because of their easy unrestricted availability over the Internet and at convenience stores. There are virtually no regulations in place to restrict the sale of these stimulants.
According to recent studies, bath salts are frequently used by compulsive drug users, and have already been linked to several deaths caused by the bath salt mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone or "meow- meow"). In view of these incidents, several countries have subsequently banned the production, possession, and sale of mephedrone and other cathinone derivative drugs.
Mephedrone was placed on Schedule 1 under the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Act for Controlled Substances for a one-year period in October 2011. The decision is pending, depending on further study.
C.J. Malanga, MD, PhD, an associate professor of neurology, pediatrics and psychology at North Carolina's University School of Medicine, who is also a member of the UNC's Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies remarked:
"Basically, the DEA was saying we don't know enough about these drugs to know how potentially dangerous they could be, so we're going to make them maximally restricted, gather more data, and then come to a more reasoned decision as to how we should classify these compounds."
New research, published online in the June 21 issue of the journal Behavioral Brain Research provides striking evidence that mephedrone, like cocaine, does have potential for abuse and addiction. Research leader Malanga said: "The effects of mephedrone on the brain's reward circuits are comparable to similar doses of cocaine. As expected our research shows that mephedrone likely has significant abuse liability."
First author J. Elliott Robinson, MD/PhD student at UNC underscores that mephedrone and other potentially addictive stimulants "inappropriately activate brain reward circuits that are involved in positive reinforcement. These play a role in the drug 'high' and compulsive drug taking."
In an animal study, the team subjected laboratory mice to intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). The technique, developed in the 50s, measures a drug's ability to activate reward circuits by training animals to perform a behavioral task, such as pressing a lever or switch using their nose to receive a reward. In this study the mice had to spin a wheel. The technique targets a direct application to stimulate brain pathways involved in reward perception.
The adult mice were implanted with brain stimulating electrodes and the researchers measured their wheel spinning effort before, during and after the animals were given various doses of mephedrone or cocaine.
Malanga stated:
"One of the unique features of ICSS is that all drugs of abuse, regardless of how they work pharmacologically, do very similar things to ICSS: they make ICSS more rewarding. Animals work harder to get less of it [ICSS] when we give them these drugs."
The results of the experiment were as anticipated. The team found that cocaine elevated the ability of mice to self-reward through stimulation. Malanga continued: "And what we found, which is new, is that mephedrone does the same thing. It increases the rewarding potency of ICSS just like cocaine does. "
Malanga concluded that the study supports the hypothesis that mephedrone and similar drugs could have a substantial amount of potential to be addictive, "and justifies the recent legislation to maintain maximum restriction to their access by the Food and Drug Administration."
President Obama enforced the law of the legislation passed by the Congress to permanently prohibit the sale of bath salts in the U.S. on July 9, 2012.
Written by Grace Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
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