Abstract
Introduction: Abuse of designer drugs by young people has recently become a highly topical phenomenon. These drugs mainly consist of phenylethylamine and tryptamine derivatives.
These are substance with stimulant, entactogenic and hallucinogenic effects. Certainly, 3,4 - methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), N,N-diethyllysergamide (LSD) and 4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (Psilocin) appear most frequently.
These drugs predominantly stimulate serotonergic system of the brain. In our experiments, we have compared behavioral changes in rats induced by acute administration of these three substance.
Metod: Wistar rats b.w. 200-250 g (Konárovice) were administered several doses of MDMA (2.5, 5.0 and 10.0mg/kg), LSD (5, 50 and 200 ug/kg) or Psilocin (0.25 and 1.0 mg/kg). Subsequently , the locomotor activity of the rats in the open field was registered by the automatic videotracking system Ethovision Color Pro v. 3.1.1. (Noldus).
Results: The MDMA dose dependently prolonged the rat trajectory. On the contrary, psilocin shortened the trajectory of the animals and LSD had no significant effects on this parameter.
Conclusions: MDMA, LSD and Psilocin have different effects on locomotion. Differences among these substances are rather related to their differential action on serotonergic and dopaminergic systems