Psychomotor stimulant drugs of abuse cause brain damage that is dependent on elevated body temperature. This year, we continued to examine brain and body temperature changes during exposure to two active components of bath salts (MDPV, Methylone) a new class of addictive drugs. We also comparing the effects of these drugs with those induced by other structurally similar analogs, particularly MDMA. We found that MDMA at relatively low dose induces modest brain and body hyperthermia, which is greatly potentiated when the drug is administered during social interaction and at moderately warm ambient temperature. We also established a critical role of centrally-mediated cutaneous vasoconstriction as a primary mechanism determining hyperthermic effects of MDMA. While MDPV and methylone also induced comparable hyperthermic effects and motor activation, these effects were less dependent upon activity state and environmental conditions. We also tested different pharmacological strategies to reverse MDMA-induced brain and body hyperthermia and found that centrally-acting clozapine is more effective to reverse hyperthermia than alpha-beta adrenocentor blockers that directly dilate blood vessels.
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