3,4-METHYLENEDIOXYAMPHETAMINE (MDA) SELF-ADMINISTRATION AND NEUROTOXICITY

3,4-Methylendioxyamphetamine (MDA), a drug with both stimulant-and hallucinogen-like properties, has been used for both medical and recreational purposes. The present study examined the reinforcing effects of MDA in rats and evaluated the resulting neurotoxicity. Self-administration of various doses (0.10, 0.05 and 0.025 mg/injection) was examined on a Fixed Ratio 1 (FR1) and a Progressive Ratio (PR) schedule. MDA supported self-administration at all doses on the FR1 schedule, but overdoses and deaths occurred at the 0.10 mg/injection dose. The breakpoints established on the PR schedule were relatively low. High performance liquid chromatography analyses of the cortex, hippocampus, striatum and nucleus accumbens subsequent to MDA self-administration revealed significant depletion of 5-HT in the hippocampus. The results suggest that MDA is moderately reinforcing and that self-administration of low doses of MDA over several days is selectively neurotoxic.