N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | someguyontheinternet
Taking opioids is often accompanied by the development of dependence. Unfortunately, treatment of opioid dependence is difficult, particularly because of codependence – for example, on alcohol or other drugs of abuse. In the presented study, we analyzed the potential influence of disulfiram, a drug used to aid the management of alcoholism, on opioid abstinence syndrome, which occurs as a result of opioid withdrawal. Opioid dependence in mice was induced by subcutaneous administration of either morphine or methadone at a dose of 48 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days. To trigger a withdrawal syndrome, the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, was administered at a dose of 1 mg/kg (subcutaneous), and the severity of withdrawal signs was assessed individually. Interruption of chronic treatment with morphine or methadone by naloxone has led to the occurrence of opioid abstinence signs such as jumping, paw tremor, wet-dog shakes, diarrhea, teeth chattering, ptosis, and piloerection. Importantly, pretreatment with disulfiram (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) reduced the intensity of withdrawal signs induced by naloxone in morphine or methadone-treated mice. These findings show the effectiveness of disulfiram in reducing opioid abstinence signs.
The 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2,5-PEA) scaffold is recognized as a motif conferring potent agonist activity at the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR). The 2,5-dimethoxy motif is present in several classical phenethylamine psychedelics such as 2,4,5- trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA-2), 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM), 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI), 2,5- dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine (DOB), 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenethylamine (2C-B), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine (2C-I), and it has previously been suggested that this structural motif is essential for 5-HT2AR activation. In the present study, we present data that challenges this assumption. The 2- and 5-desmethoxy derivatives of 2C-B and DOB were synthesized, and their pharmacological profiles were evaluated in vitro at 5-HT2AR and 5-HT2CR in binding and functional assays and in vivo by assessing their induction of the head-twitch response in mice. Elimination of either the 2- or 5-methoxy group leads to a modest drop in binding affinity and functional potency at 5-HT2AR and 5-HT2CR, which was more pronounced upon removal of the 2-methoxy group. However, this trend was not mirrored in vivo, as removal of either methoxy group resulted in significant reduction in the ability of the compounds to induce the head-twitch response in mice. Thus, the 2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine motif appears to be important for in vivo potency of phenethylamine 5-HT2AR agonists, but this does not correlate to the relative affinity and potency of the ligands at the recombinant 5-HT2AR.
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