Acute exposure to the club drugs MDMA (Ecstasy) and Foxy increases the stress hormone corticosterone in rats at all ages tested—preweaning, juvenile, and adulthood. Blood glucose also rises at all stages except in juveniles. No differences were found between males and females. These hormonal and metabolic changes may contribute to the behavioral and cognitive impairments previously linked to these drugs.
Tiletamine, a veterinary anesthetic related to ketamine, produces dose-dependent sedative effects in adult zebrafish. Immersion in 1 mg/L caused only reduced top entries in a novel tank test, while 5 and 10 mg/L caused robust sedation and skin darkening. Brain samples confirmed tiletamine presence only at the two higher doses. The results demonstrate potent neurotropic effects of tiletamine in zebrafish and support the use of fish-based aquatic screens for studying NMDA receptor antagonists.