The so-called "club drug" Foxy or Methoxy Foxy (5-Methoxy-N,N-di(iso)propyltryptamine hydrochloride; 5-MeO-DIPT) is a newer drug of abuse that has recently gained in popularity among recreational users as an alternative to MDMA (Ecstasy). While considerable research into the consequences of MDMA use is available, much remains unknown about the neurobiological consequences of 5-MeO-DIPT use. In the present study, beginning at 35 days of age adolescent rats were given repeated injections of 10 mg/kg of 5-MeO-DIPT, MDMA, or a corresponding volume of isotonic saline. Adult animals (135 days old) were trained and tested on a number of tasks designed to assess the impact, if any, and severity of 5-MeO-DIPT and MDMA, on a series of spatial and nonspatial memory tasks. Both the 5-MeO-DIPT-and the MDMA-treated rats were able to master the spatial navigation tests where the task included a single goal location and all groups performed comparably on these phases of training and testing. Conversely, the performance of both groups of the drug-treated rats was markedly inferior to that of the control animals on a task where the goal was moved to a new location and on a response learning task, suggesting a lack of flexibility in adapting their responses to changing task demands. In addition, in a response learning version of a learning set task, 5-MeO-DIPT rats made significantly more working memory errors than MDMA or control rats. Results are discussed in terms of observed alterations in serotonin activity in the forebrain and the consequences of compromised serotoninergic systems on cognitive processes.

No abstract

The hallucinogenic "designer drug" known as Foxy or Methoxy Foxy and formally know as 5-Methoxy-N,N-di(iso)propyltryptamine hydrochloride (5-MeO-DIPT) is rapidly gaining popularity among recreational users. However, little is known about the consequences of its use on neuropsychological development or behavior. During one of two adolescent periods, the rats were given repeated injections of either saline or 5 mg/kg of 5-MeO-DIPT. Once the animals reached 80 days of age, they were trained and tested on a number of tasks designed to assess the effects of 5-MeO-DIPT, if any, on memory tasks with spatial components that presumably involve declarative memory systems and on a nonspatial task that is considered sensitive to disruptions in nondeclarative memory. With one exception, both the 5-MeO-DIPT- and saline-treated rats were able to master the spatial navigation tests at comparable rates. However, the performance of the drug-treated rats was markedly inferior to that of the control animals on a response-learning task, suggesting a lack of flexibility in adapting their responses to changing task demands. This could indicate reductions in serotonin activity in the forebrain similar to the effects of studied drugs such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), suggesting 5-MeO-DIPT may act as a toxin compromising serotoninergic systems in the brain.

Fo xy or Methoxy Fo xy (5-MeO-DIPT) is one of a series of new "club drugs" that within the past decade has gained in popularity among recreational users as an alternative to MDMA (Ecstasy). Unlike M DMA, not much is known about the neurobiological consequences of 5-MeO-DIPT use. Little is known about the effects of either co mpound on learning in a nonspatial appetitive task. In the present study, adolescent rats were given repeated injections of 10 mg/kg of 5-MeO-DIPT, MDMA, or a corresponding volume of isotonic saline. In serial learning tasks, depending on task demands, there is a gro wing body of evidence suggesting that multip le memo ry systems play a critical role, with each system playing a more o r less dominant role depending on the available stimu li and task demands. Therefore, for co mparison purposes, the drug-treated rats were co mpared with that of h ippocampus-or prefrontal cortex-lesioned rats. After adolescent drug exposure or lesions during adolescence, adult animals were trained All animals were trained for 30 days on a three-element, nonmonotonic pattern consisting of 21, 0, and 7 food pellets, respectively. Control rats were capable of d istinguishing among the elements of the series, as indexed by running times. As expected, the tracking performance of the lesioned rats was impaired. Performance in both the 5-MeO-DIPT-and the MDMA-treated rats improved with training but after 30 days was not markedly d ifferent than the lesioned animals. The results are discussed in terms of measured alterat ions in serotonin activity in the fo rebrain and the consequences of compro mised serotoninergic systems on the cognitive processes involved in appetitive serial learning tasks.