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Neuropharmacology of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) pp 313–331Cite as

Clinical Pharmacology of the Synthetic Cathinone Mephedrone

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 32))

Abstract

4-Methyl-N-methylcathinone (mephedrone) is a popular new psychoactive substance (NPS) that is structurally related to the parent compound cathinone, the β-keto analogue of amphetamine. Mephedrone appeared on the street drug market as a substitute for 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) and was subsequently banned due to the potential health risks associated with its use. Nevertheless, mephedrone continues to be widely consumed among specific populations, with unique patterns of misuse. To date, most information about the biological effects of mephedrone comes from user experiences, epidemiological data, clinical cases, toxicological findings, and animal studies, whilst there are very few data regarding its human pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. This chapter reviews the available published data on patterns of mephedrone use, its acute and chronic effects, and its pharmacokinetic properties. More human research is needed to elucidate the safety, toxicity, and addiction potential of mephedrone and related NPS.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, FIS-FEDER PI11/01961; Red de Trastornos Adictivos-RTA-FEDER RD16/0017/0003 and RD16/0017/0010; Juan Rodes fellowship JR16/00020) and The European Commission (Drugs Policy Initiatives, Justice Programme 2014–2020, Contract no. HOME/2014/JDRU/AG/DRUG/7082, PREDICT Project).

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  1. Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Badalona, Spain

    Esther Papaseit, José Moltó, Robert Muga & Magí Farré

  2. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain

    Esther Papaseit, Robert Muga, Marta Torrens & Magí Farré

  3. Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Badalona, Spain

    José Moltó

  4. IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Torrens & Rafael de la Torre

  5. Institut de Neuropsiquiatria i Adiccions, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Torrens

  6. Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain

    Rafael de la Torre

Authors
  1. Esther Papaseit
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  2. José Moltó
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  3. Robert Muga
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  4. Marta Torrens
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  5. Rafael de la Torre
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  6. Magí Farré
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Magí Farré .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Designer Drug Research Unit (DDRU), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Michael H. Baumann

  2. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Richard A. Glennon

  3. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Jenny L. Wiley

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Papaseit, E., Moltó, J., Muga, R., Torrens, M., de la Torre, R., Farré, M. (2016). Clinical Pharmacology of the Synthetic Cathinone Mephedrone. In: Baumann, M.H., Glennon, R.A., Wiley, J.L. (eds) Neuropharmacology of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2016_61

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