The effects of fluoxetine on the subjective and physiological effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in humans
Open accessAbstract
Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of serotonin (5-HT) in the effects of oral 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in humans.Materials and methods The subjective and physiological effects of 1.5 mg/kg MDMA were evaluated after 20 mg fluoxetine in eight recreational MDMA users in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. During phase 1, participants were maintained on placebo for at least 5 days and tested with MDMA and placebo on separate sessions. In phase 2, the procedure was the same except fluoxetine was administered daily for at least 5 days. During sessions, placebo or fluoxetine was given 1 h before the session drug and effects were measured over the next 7 h.Results MDMA increased positive-like subjective effects on all the Addiction Research Center Inventory scales; Arousal, Elation, Positive Mood, and Vigor on the Profile of Mood States; Drug Liking, Friendly, Good Drug Effect, High, Stimulated, and Talkative on the Visual Analog Scale; and End-of-Session Liking and Crossover Point on the Multiple Choice Procedure. MDMA also increased measures of anxiety. On the Hallucinogenic Rating Scale, all scales except Volition were increased. MDMA also increased blood pressure and heart rate. Fluoxetine treatment attenuated most of the positive-like subjective effects including the Affect and Soma scales of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale. In addition, heart rate but not blood pressure increases were reduced.Conclusions These results suggest that blockade of 5-HT reuptake by fluoxetine can dampen the effects of MDMA and further supports the role of 5-HT in its behavioral effects in humans.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
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?
Earlier controlled lab work suggests MDMA raises self-reported states tied to empathy and social ease, but findings are mixed.
“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 [8]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 44 · Cited by 113
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M, Williams JBW (1996) Structured clinical interview of DSM-IV axis I disorders-patient edition (SCID I/P, Version 2). Biometrics Research Department, NY State Psychiatric Institute, New York
- Authors
- Tancer, M., & Johanson, C.-E.
- Affiliations
- Wayne State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Johanson, Chris-Ellyn
- Venue
- Psychopharmacology
- Published
- 2006-10-18
- Volume
- 189
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 565-573
- ISSN
- 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-2072
- OpenAlex
- W2091385849
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 8.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5k08da000370-05)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (KO8 DA00370)
- 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, fluoxetine, serotonin, subjective effects, hallucinogenic effects, anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, recreational drug users
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Behavior, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena, Double-Blind Method, Drug Interactions, Female, Fluoxetine, Hallucinogens, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Mental Processes, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Serotonin Agents, 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
