Methcathinone (MCAT) is the β-ketone analog of methamphetamine, and like its amphetamine analog, MCAT functions as a monoamine releaser that selectively promotes the release of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) over serotonin (5-HT). MCAT produces amphetamine-like psychostimulant effects and is classified as a Schedule I drug of abuse by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Recently, synthetic MCAT analogs have emerged as designer drugs of abuse in Europe and the United States and have been marketed under deceptively benign names like “bath salts” in an attempt to evade legal restriction. These dangerous, recently emergent and novel drugs of abuse display varying selectivity to promote release of DA/NE vs. 5-HT, and selectivity for DA neurotransmission is believed to correlate with abuse liability. The goal of this dissertation was to conduct preclinical research to examine structural determinants of abuse-related behavioral and neurochemical effects produced by a series of synthetic MCAT analogs. Specifically, this project focused on one feature of the methcathinone scaffold: the para substituent of the benzene ring. A series of six novel MCAT analogs will be examined to evaluate how physicochemical parameters (steric, Es; electronic, σp; lipophilic, πp) of the para substituent influence in vitro monoamine transporter selectivity as well as in vivo neurochemical and behavioral effects. Results from this body of work implicate steric factors as being particularly important in determining a compound’s abuse-related neurochemical and behavioral effects. Thus, these data not only offer an improved understanding of the mechanism of abuse-related drug effects produced by synthetic MCAT analogs, but also help in the generation of homology models of the human DA and 5-HT transporters (DAT and SERT, respectively).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-4714 |
| Date | 01 January 2015 |
| Creators | Bonano, Julie S |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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