TY - JOUR T1 - Mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), major constituents of "bath salts," produce opposite effects at the human dopamine transporter. AU - Cameron,Krasnodara, AU - Kolanos,Renata, AU - Vekariya,Rakesh, AU - Verkariya,Rakesh, AU - De Felice,Louis, AU - Glennon,Richard A, Y1 - 2013/01/31/ PY - 2012/06/06/received PY - 2013/01/04/accepted PY - 2013/2/2/entrez PY - 2013/2/2/pubmed PY - 2013/12/18/medline SP - 493 EP - 9 JF - Psychopharmacology JO - Psychopharmacology (Berl) VL - 227 IS - 3 N2 - RATIONALE: Psychoactive "bath salts" represent a relatively new drug of abuse combination that was placed in Schedule I in October 2011. Two common ingredients of bath salts include the cathinone analogs: mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). The mechanism of action of these synthetic cathinone analogs has not been well investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Because cathinone and methcathinone are known to act as releasing agents at the human dopamine transporter (hDAT), mephedrone and MDPV were investigated at hDAT expressed in Xenopus oocytes. RESULTS: Whereas mephedrone was found to have the signature of a dopamine-releasing agent similar to methamphetamine or methcathinone, MDPV behaved as a cocaine-like reuptake inhibitor of dopamine. CONCLUSIONS: Mephedrone and MDPV produce opposite electrophysiological signatures through hDAT expressed in oocytes. Implications are that the combination (as found in bath salts) might produce effects similar to a combination of methamphetamine and cocaine. SN - 1432-2072 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/23371489/Mephedrone_and_methylenedioxypyrovalerone__MDPV__major_constituents_of_"bath_salts"_produce_opposite_effects_at_the_human_dopamine_transporter_ L2 - https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-2967-2 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -