Stimulus effects of three sulfur-containing psychoactive agents.

Two sulfur-containing phenylalkylamines, 4-MTA and 2C-T-7, gaining popularity on the illicit drug market, were tested in rats trained to discriminate the hallucinogen DOM, the stimulant cocaine, or the empathogen MDMA from a neutral substance. 4-MTA and its analog 4-MTMA substituted only for MDMA, whereas 2C-T-7 substituted only for DOM. These results indicate that 4-MTA and 4-MTMA act like MDMA, while 2C-T-7 behaves like a DOM-like hallucinogen, extending knowledge of structure-activity relationships and aligning with limited human reports.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Two agents gaining popularity on the illicit drug market are the phenylalkylamines 4-MTA and 2C-T-7 [or 1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-aminopropane and 2-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-n-propylthiophenyl)-1-aminoethane, respectively]. At this time, there exists a paucity of information on the behavioral actions of these sulfur-containing agents. The present investigation examined these agents, and the N-monomethyl analog of 4-MTA (i.e., 4-MTMA), in tests of stimulus generalization (substitution) using a two-lever drug discrimination task with groups of rats trained to discriminate either the hallucinogen DOM [1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl)-2-aminopropane], the stimulant cocaine, or the empathogen MDMA from vehicle. 4-MTA and its N-monomethyl analog 4-MTMA (ED50 = 0.8 mg/kg in both cases) substituted only for the MDMA stimulus, whereas 2C-T-7 (ED50 = 0.8 mg/kg) substituted only for the DOM stimulus. Thus, at the doses examined, 4-MTA and 4-MTMA appear to be MDMA-like agents, and 2C-T-7 seems best classified as a DOM-like hallucinogen. These results provide additional data that extend the structure-activity relationships of phenylalkylamines and that are consistent with what little is currently known about the action of 4-MTA and 2C-T-7 in humans.