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Altered pain responses in abstinent (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") users
Una D McCann1, Robert R Edwards, Michael T Smith
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5501 Hopkins Bayview Circle, Room 5B71c, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. umccann@jhmi.edu
Psychopharmacology
|May 24, 2011
Summary
Abstinent recreational (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) users show altered pain perception and sleep patterns. While pain and sleep are linked, MDMA
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychopharmacology
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use can damage brain serotonin (5-HT) neurons, impacting pain modulation.
- Altered sleep patterns in MDMA users may influence pain perception.
- Long-term effects of MDMA on pain processing remain under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To objectively assess pain processing in abstinent MDMA users.
- To investigate the relationship between pain perception and sleep indices in MDMA users.
Main Methods:
- A 5-day inpatient study involving 42 abstinent MDMA users and 43 age-matched controls.
- Utilized standardized pain measures, polysomnography, and sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral analysis.
- Explored correlations between psychophysiological pain measures and sleep indices.
Main Results:
- MDMA users exhibited lower pressure pain thresholds and increased cold pain ratings.
- Increased pain ratings were observed during diffuse noxious inhibitory control testing in MDMA users.
- MDMA users showed decreased Stage 2 sleep; sleep differences did not mediate altered pain perception.
Conclusions:
- Abstinent MDMA users display significant alterations in both pain perception and sleep architecture.
- Despite observed relationships between pain and sleep measures, sleep architecture differences do not mediate altered pain responses.
- Further research is needed to determine if altered pain perception stems from 5-HT neurotoxicity or other brain process changes.
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