Cardiac effects of ephedrine, norephedrine, mescaline, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in mouse and human atrial preparations.

ABSTRACT: The use of recreational drugs like ephedrine, norephedrine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and mescaline can lead to intoxication and, at worst, to death. One reason for a fatal course of intoxication with these drugs might lie in cardiac arrhythmias. To the best of our knowledge, their inotropic effects have not yet been studied in isolated human cardiac preparations. Therefore, we measured inotropic effects of the hallucinogenic drugs ephedrine, norephedrine, mescaline, and MDMA in isolated mouse left atrial (mLA) and right atrial (mRA) preparations as well as in human right atrial (hRA) preparations obtained during cardiac surgery. Under these experimental conditions, ephedrine, norephedrine, and MDMA increased force of contraction (mLA, hRA) and beating rate (mRA) in a time-

SUBMITTER: Neumann J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9831963 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature