Parrott Andrew C, Montgomery Cathy, Wetherell Mark A, Downey Luke A, Stough Con, Scholey Andrew B
aDepartment of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea bSchool of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool cDepartment of Psychology, University of Northumbria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK dCentre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
Behav Pharmacol. 2014 Sep;25(5-6):458-72. doi: 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000060.
Stress develops when an organism requires additional metabolic resources to cope with demanding situations. This review will debate how recreational 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'ecstasy') can increase some aspects of acute and chronic stress in humans. Laboratory studies on the acute effects of MDMA on cortisol release and neurohormone levels in drug-free regular ecstasy/MDMA users have been reviewed, and the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in chronic changes in anxiety, stress, and cognitive coping is debated. In the laboratory, acute ecstasy/MDMA use can increase cortisol levels by 100-200%, whereas ecstasy/MDMA-using dance clubbers experience an 800% increase in cortisol levels, because of the combined effects of the stimulant drug and dancing. Three-month hair samples of abstinent users revealed cortisol levels 400% higher than those in controls. Chronic users show heightened cortisol release in stressful environments and deficits in complex neurocognitive tasks. Event-related evoked response potential studies show altered patterns of brain activation, suggestive of increased mental effort, during basic information processing. Chronic mood deficits include more daily stress and higher depression in susceptible individuals. We conclude that ecstasy/MDMA increases cortisol levels acutely and subchronically and that changes in the HPA axis may explain why recreational ecstasy/MDMA users show various aspects of neuropsychobiological stress.
当生物体需要额外的代谢资源来应对苛刻的情况时，压力就会产生。本综述将探讨娱乐性3,4-亚甲基二氧甲基苯丙胺（MDMA，“摇头丸”）如何增加人类急性和慢性应激的某些方面。本文回顾了关于MDMA对无药物使用史的常规摇头丸/MDMA使用者皮质醇释放和神经激素水平急性影响的实验室研究，并讨论了下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在焦虑、压力和认知应对慢性变化中的作用。在实验室中，急性使用摇头丸/MDMA可使皮质醇水平升高100%-200%，而在使用摇头丸/MDMA的夜店狂欢者中，由于兴奋剂药物和跳舞的综合作用，皮质醇水平会升高800%。对戒断使用者的三个月毛发样本检测显示，其皮质醇水平比对照组高400%。长期使用者在压力环境下皮质醇释放增加，在复杂神经认知任务中存在缺陷。事件相关诱发电位研究表明，在基本信息处理过程中，大脑激活模式发生改变，提示心理努力增加。长期情绪缺陷包括易感个体日常压力更大和抑郁程度更高。我们得出结论，摇头丸/MDMA会急性和亚慢性地增加皮质醇水平，HPA轴的变化可能解释了为什么娱乐性摇头丸/MDMA使用者会出现神经心理生物学应激的各个方面。
