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How are the Hallucinogenic effects of MDA produced?

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czechmafia

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Does any one know how physiologically MDA produces its hallucinogenic effects?

I apologize if this is common knowledge however im am curious regariding this matter.
 
It's a weird little bugger; both of the optical isomers are active, but unlike all the other psychedelic amphetamines, the two isomers produce different subjective effects. The L isomer has actions at the 5HT2a receptor in the same way that other psychedelic amphetamines do (but has a much lower affinity than the normally encountered psych. amphetamines - hence the higher dose), but the D isomer has the entactogenic activity that's shown by MDMA.

As I'm yet to hear of a clandestine sythesis that was resolved into the optical isomers, what you get with a dose of MDA is essentially two related, but distinctly different pharmacological activities; that's what makes MDA different to any other psychedelic you're likely to come across.

It would be interesting to see if IAP had that same quirk of optical isomers with different pharmacological profiles
 
Yeah... MDA's affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor is quite high, but not anywhere near as high as it's potency for serotonin release. The pharmacologist in me tells me that that people will dose with a drug to around the EC50 of it's more potent and relavent effect... But if we say MDA gets to a brain concentration of around 1µM, (maybe a little higher)(1) then it will be binding to the 5-HT2A receptor at around 5-10%... now MDA is very effecacious at stimulating IP3 turnover, (which is probably non-hallucinogenic) but it might be equally effecacious at stimulating a pro-hallucinogenic 2nd messanger system.

Then if that is how it is hallucinogenic, then perhaps you should read The neuropharmacology of hallucinogens to get a fuller look at how 5-HT2A receptor agonists might be hallucinogenic.
 
thanks guys very informative.

Is there any relation to the dopamine system at all since mda effects dopamine more so then mdma? i thought it might have a slight connection since dopamine can cause hallucinations in schizophrenics.
 
fastandbulbous said:
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Click to expand...

That's interesting...that's the only psychedelic amphetamine to behave like that? Is there a reasoning for why the enantiomers bind differently?
 
yeah, I've heard this MDA has a higher DAT/SERT ratio thing, but I've yet to see any proof of this.
 
It would be interesting to see if IAP had that same quirk of optical isomers with different pharmacological profiles
Click to expand...

Actually... i forget where I read this, but, I read that it is true.. also, that some early companies selling IAP to the RC market was one isomer, and later on it was either the other one or both (probably both i'd guess).

I think I had some of the early stuff, and it was EXTREMELY euphoric! It was very good, mostly an MDMA like effect - but I bought some later on which made me feel shitty/chilly and didnt work the same - ahh i remember now, it was that when both isomers of IAP were combined, the "bad" one cancelled out a lot of the "good" from the "good" isomer.. I read this on another forum a long time ago, I don't know how the person knew this but, from my experiences from two batches of it, i wouldn't doubt it.
 
that's what makes MDA different to any other psychedelic you're likely to come across.
Click to expand...

Check out "Discriminative stimulus properties of a-ethyltryptamine
optical isomers" by Seoung-Soo Hong, Richard Young, Richard A. Glennon. The isomers of this are also have very different pharmacological profiles.
 
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