The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Subjective and hormonal effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in humans
Abstract
Rationale 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a widely used phenethylamine. Reports have described the effects of MDMA in a controlled laboratory setting, but the full range of effects of MDMA in humans is still not completely characterized.Objectives To describe the physiological, subjective, and hormonal changes after single doses of MDMA in a laboratory setting and examine relationships between these effects.Methods Eight MDMA-experienced volunteers each received placebo, 0.5 mg/kg, and 1.5 mg/kg oral doses of MDMA in a double-blind crossover study.Results The 1.5 mg/kg dose (comparable to that typically used by most participants) produced significant subjective effects, peaking at about 2 h after dosing, including some effects commonly associated with stimulant drugs, hallucinogens, and entactogens. MDMA significantly increased plasma cortisol, prolactin, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels. Increase in plasma cortisol after the 1.5 mg/kg dose correlated with increased heart rate, rate-pressure product, and drug liking. Rise in DHEA correlated with euphoria.Conclusions A typically used dose of MDMA produced effects commonly associated with stimulants and hallucinogens. Subjects liked MDMA. Correlations between cortisol and DHEA levels and some physiological and psychological effects are consistent with animal data suggesting that hormones modulate some responses to drugs of abuse.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“These studies indicate that MDMA increases feelings related to empathy and sociability, including self-rated friendliness [7–8], extroversion [9–10], closeness to others [11], sociability [7, 12], talkativeness [7–8], amicability, and gregariousness [13], although some of these effects are inconsistent [14–16].”
From Is Ecstasy an “Empathogen”? Effects of +/- 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine on Prosocial Feelings and Identification of Emotional States in Others (2010) · cites this paper as [16]
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–229 of 229
Halpern, J. H., Shuster, T. D., Naidoo, U., & Siegel, A. J. (2004)
Glutamate and MDMA Neurobehavioral Toxicity
Anneken, J. H. (2012) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network)
Amphétamine et autres psychostimulants
Brust, J. C. M. (2007) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-2-84299-712-0.50004-8
López, D. M., Bugueno, I. M., Valdebenito, B., Ormazábal, F. R., & Urrutia, C. G. (2015)
Can 3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine therapy be used to treat alcohol use disorder?
Sessa, B. (2017) · Journal of Psychedelic Studies · doi:10.1556/2054.01.2016.003
Cognitive consequences of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine use
Montgomery, C., & Roberts, C. A. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815298-0.00012-5
Other Times I Can Barely See: The Effects of Hallucinogens on Vision and Attention
Baggott, M. J. (2010) · eScholarship (California Digital Library)
Self-citationCurrent Awareness in Human Psychopharmacology
(2003) · Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental · doi:10.1002/hup.457
Hallucinogens and Related Drugs
(2006) · Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-387-25733-0_8
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.002.0003
The Research of Alexander T. Shulgin
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0005
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0013
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0009
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0003
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0007
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0011 · Cited by 1
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0002
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.002.0005
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.005.0001
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.002.0008
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.003.0001
Passie, T. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198867364.002.0004
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD in adults – literature review
Nowak, M., Górczyńska, J., & Gebuza, M. (2023) · Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry and Neurology · doi:10.5114/fpn.2023.133519
Waldman, E. D., Romanko, M., Skellie, M., & Bates, M. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/med/9780197760864.003.0003
MDMA in Psychiatry: From PTSD to emerging indications, safety, and future directions
Zhao, M., Yang, J., & Hashimoto, K. (2025) · Psychedelics. · doi:10.61373/pp025i.0035
The Potential Therapeutic Effects of MEAI in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder
Ekhlasi, M., Frytz, A., & Nia, A. B. (2025) · Current Addiction Reports · doi:10.1007/s40429-025-00700-4
GC-MS and GC-IRD Studies on Ethoxyphenethylamines Related to MDEA, MDMMA and MDBD
Al‐Hossaini, A. M. (2009)
Diffuse hair loss associated with hyperprolactinaemia: report of three cases
Grosber, M. (2015) · VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Xia, K., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Yao, Y., 苏瑞斌, & Yan, H. (2026) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-026-03894-9
Metadata
- Authors
- Harris, D. S., Baggott, M., Mendelson, J. H., Mendelson, J. E., & Jones, R. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2002-06-27
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 396-405
- ISSN
- 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-2072
- OpenAlex
- W2085124531
- Cited by
- 229
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 8.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Purdue University
- National Institutes of Health (5p50da001696-18, 5m01rr000079-42)
- University of California, San Francisco
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P01DA014528, DA-14528, DA-01696, DA 12393, P30DA012393, DA00053, DA 00064)
- National Center for Research Resources (5-MO1-RR00079)
- NIH Clinical Center
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
- Keywords
- MDMA, ecstasy, subjective effects, plasma cortisol, prolactin, dehydroepiandrosterone, heart rate, rate-pressure product, drug liking, euphoria, entactogens, stimulants, hallucinogens, dose-response relationship
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena, Dehydroepiandrosterone, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Double-Blind Method, Female, Hallucinogens, Hormones, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Prolactin, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Time Factors, Cross-Over Studies, N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review