2005 Press Releases
New finding on the action of ecstacy by UCC Researcher
Ecstacy is a synthetic amphetamine drug which is commonly abused
by younger individuals. It produces a feeling of well-being and
euphoria and it also appears to cause an increased empathy and
emotional openness. It produces its psychedelic and mood-changing
effects by acting on nerve cells in the central nervous system. At high
doses it triggers toxic reactions - causing high blood pressure and
abnormal increases in the heart rate. Side effects are also produced by
this drug-of-abuse such as irregular spontaneous muscle contraction,
muscle pain and cramps and spasm of the neck and jaw muscles. Less
frequent but more severe effects include a rapid increase in body
temperature, muscle acidification and breakdown of muscle.
It is generally held that the effects of ecstacy are brought about by
its actions on nerve cells in the brain; in other words it is a
centrally-acting agent. New results of research on the effects of
ecstacy by Professor James Heffron's group in UCC and Professor Frank
Lehmann-Horn's group at the University of Ulm, Germany show that
the drug can also act outside of the central nervous system on
the skeletal muscle. Its target is the specialised receptor protein
known as nAChR on the surface of the muscle cells called the myoneural
junction. The results have just been published on-line in the American
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. These findings
would explain the severe toxic effects of this drug outside of the
central nervous system such as the increased body temperature and
severe muscle breakdown. Instances of the latter related to
deaths among young ecstacy users have appeared in the media in recent
times. The situation may even be complicated by the fact that 'street'
ecstacy pills usually contain a variety of other compounds
including caffeine which may exaggerate the actions of ecstacy itself.
100MMcS
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