Me-too pharmaceutical products: History, definitions, examples, and relevance to drug shortages and essential medicines lists.

We define a me-too drug as a pharmacologically active compound that is structurally related to a first-in-class compound, regarded as belonging to the same therapeutic class as the original compound, and used for the same therapeutic purposes, but which may differ in some respects, such as specificity of pharmacological action, adverse reactions profile, or drug-drug interactions. We also offer definitions of related terms, including follow-on drug and first-in-class. The therapeutic advantages of me-too drugs may include improved target specificity, reduced risks of off-target adverse reactions and drug-drug interactions, increased chance of benefit in some patients, and improved drug delivery and pharmacokinetics. Me-too drugs can also demonstrate incremental innovation. Their availability may help in coping with drug shortages. However, they may occasionally cause unexpected adverse reactions that are not class effects. Tricyclic antidepressants, ß-blockers, and statins illustrate the diversity of me-too drugs. Earlier compounds may be as effective as later ones, or more so. Tricyclic antidepressants have similar chemical structures, and compounds introduced after the first-in-class compound (imipramine) mostly offered little in the way of innovative features, but continue to be prescribed. In contrast, me-too ß-blockers introduced after the first-in-class compound, pronethalol, have diverse structures and display several innovative features. Stereoisomers and biosimilars/biobetters provide special examples of me-too drugs. Although many me-too drugs offer no significant advantages over their predecessors, over 60% of the drugs listed on the World Health Organization's essential list are me-toos. Different countries may choose different me-too drugs when constructing essential medicines lists, partly explaining transnational differences between them.

The British Pharmacological Society's WDM Paton Memorial Lecture 2019: How doctors were informed about pharmaceutical products through advertising in the British Medical Journal from 1955/6 to 1985/6.

We have reviewed pharmaceutical advertisements in every available issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 12-month periods during 1955/6, 1965/6, 1975/6, and 1985/6. We have determined the amount of advertising, the therapeutic areas covered, and whether adverts reflected the large number of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) launched during that time. For each product we recorded the therapeutic indications, the marketing company, and the number of adverts appearing. The total number of products advertised fell from 340 in 1955/6 to 260 in 1965/6, 70 in 1975/6, and 16 in 1985/6. Advertisement numbers and companies advertising also fell. Antimicrobial drugs and cardiovascular drugs were the top products advertised over the 30 years, with respiratory, analgesic, and gastrointestinal drugs also in the top five. The number of different drugs advertised by individual companies fell from around eight per company in 1955/6 to one or two in 1985/6. There was good concordance between the most advertised therapeutic areas and NCEs entering the market. From the 1950s to the 1980s prescribers were extensively informed about pharmacological advances in therapeutics through BMJ advertisements. Many novel drugs that were advertised proved to be of lasting value. The Medicines Act 1968 introduced product licensing, regulations requiring demonstration of quality, efficacy, and safety, and restrictions on advertising. Subsequently many companies reduced their advertising or stopped altogether. Since advertising influences prescribing, and since antimicrobial drugs were the most commonly advertised products during 1955-86, we speculate that advertising, resulting in excess use, may have, at least partly, driven bacterial drug resistance.

Marketing medicines: charting the rise of modern therapeutics through a systematic review of adverts in UK medical journals (1950-1980).

AIMS: To examine how pharmaceutical products that were first marketed between 1950 and 1980 were promoted to physicians through advertisements and briefly review advertising regulations and accuracy of the advertisements in the light of modern knowledge. METHODS: We systematically reviewed advertisements promoting drugs for specific therapeutic areas, namely central nervous system disorders (anxiety and sleep disorders, depression, psychoses, and Parkinson's disease), respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders. We examined about 800 issues of the British Medical Journal (1950-1980) and about 150 issues of World Medicine (1965-1984). RESULTS: Advertising material was minimally regulated until the mid-1970s. Many drugs were marketed with little preclinical or clinical knowledge and some with the expectation that prescribers would obtain further data. The peak of advertising occurred in parallel with the surge in the release of novel drugs during the 1960s, but declined markedly after the mid-1970s. Advertisements generally contained little useful prescribing information. The period we investigated saw the release of many novel pharmaceuticals in the therapeutic areas we examined, and many (or their class successors) still play important therapeutic roles, including benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants, phenothiazines, levodopa, selective and non-selective ß-adrenoceptor antagonists, thiazide diuretics, ß-adrenoceptor agonists, and histamine H2 receptor antagonists. CONCLUSIONS: Advertising pharmaceuticals in the BMJ and World Medicine in 1950-1980 was poorly regulated and often lacked rigour. However, advertisements were gradually modified in the light of increasing clinical pharmacological knowledge, and they reflect an exciting period for the introduction of many drugs that continue to be of benefit today.

Contribution of serotonin and dopamine to changes in core body temperature and locomotor activity in rats following repeated administration of mephedrone.

The psychoactive effects of mephedrone are commonly compared with those of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, but because of a shorter duration of action, users often employ repeated administration to maintain its psychoactive effects. This study examined the effects of repeated mephedrone administration on locomotor activity, body temperature and striatal dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels and the role of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons in these responses. Adult male Lister hooded rats received three injections of vehicle (1 ml/kg, i.p.) or mephedrone HCl (10 mg/kg) at 2 h intervals for radiotelemetry (temperature and activity) or microdialysis (dopamine and 5-HT) measurements. Intracerebroventricular pre-treatment (21 to 28 days earlier) with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (150 µg) or 6-hydroxydopamine (300 µg) was used to examine the impact of 5-HT or dopamine depletion on mephedrone-induced changes in temperature and activity. A final study examined the influence of i.p. pre-treatment (-30 min) with the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist WAY-100635 (0.5 mg/kg), 5-HT1B receptor antagonist GR 127935 (3 mg/kg) or the 5-HT7 receptor antagonist SB-258719 (10 mg/kg) on mephedrone-induced changes in locomotor activity and rectal temperature. Mephedrone caused rapid-onset hyperactivity, hypothermia (attenuated on repeat dosing) and increased striatal dopamine and 5-HT release following each injection. Mephedrone-induced hyperactivity was attenuated by 5-HT depletion and 5-HT1B receptor antagonism, whereas the hypothermia was completely abolished by 5-HT depletion and lessened by 5-HT1A receptor antagonism. These findings suggest that stimulation of central 5-HT release and/or inhibition of 5-HT reuptake play a pivotal role in both the hyperlocomotor and hypothermic effects of mephedrone, which are mediated in part via 5-HT1B and 5-HT1A receptors.

From basic to clinical neuropharmacology: targetophilia or pharmacodynamics?

Historically, much drug discovery and development in psychopharmacology tended to be empirical. However, over the last 20 years it has primarily been target oriented, with synthesis and selection of compounds designed to act at a specific neurochemical site. Such compounds are then examined in functional animal models of disease. There is little evidence that this approach (which we call 'targetophilia') has enhanced the discovery process and some indications that it may have retarded it. A major problem is the weakness of many animal models in mimicking the disease and the lack of appropriate biochemical markers of drug action in animals and patients. In this review we argue that preclinical studies should be conducted as if they were clinical studies in design, analysis, and reporting, and that clinical pharmacologists should be involved at the earliest stages, to help ensure that animal models reflect as closely as possible the clinical disease. In addition, their familiarity with pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic integration (PK-PD) would help ensure that appropriate dosing and drug measurement techniques are applied to the discovery process, thereby producing results with relevance to therapeutics. Better integration of experimental and clinical pharmacologists early in the discovery process would allow observations in animals and patients to be quickly exchanged between the two disciplines. This non-linear approach to discovery used to be the way research proceeded, and it resulted in productivity that has never been bettered. It also follows that occasionally 'look-see' studies, a proven technique for drug discovery, deserve to be reintroduced.

The Serotonin Club: coming of age.

This special issue of Trends in Pharmacological Sciences devoted to serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), celebrates the 21st anniversary of the Serotonin Club, an event also marked by a major international meeting on serotonin held 17-20 July 2008, in Oxford (U.K.).

Induction of the cell survival kinase Sgk1: A possible novel mechanism for α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone in experimental stroke.

Nitrones (e.g. α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone; PBN) are cerebroprotective in experimental stroke. Free radical trapping is their proposed mechanism. As PBN has low radical trapping potency, we tested Sgk1 induction as another possible mechanism. PBN was injected (100 mg/kg, i.p.) into adult male rats and mice. Sgk1 was quantified in cerebral tissue by microarray, quantitative RT-PCR and western analyses. Sgk1+/+ and Sgk1-/- mice were randomized to receive PBN or saline immediately following transient (60 min) occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. Neurological deficit was measured at 24 h and 48 h and infarct volume at 48 h post-occlusion. Following systemic PBN administration, rapid induction of Sgk1 was detected by microarray (at 4 h) and confirmed by RT-PCR and phosphorylation of the Sgk1-specific substrate NDRG1 (at 6 h). PBN-treated Sgk1+/+ mice had lower neurological deficit ( p < 0.01) and infarct volume ( p < 0.01) than saline-treated Sgk1+/+ mice. PBN-treated Sgk1-/- mice did not differ from saline-treated Sgk1-/- mice. Saline-treated Sgk1-/- and Sgk1+/+ mice did not differ. Brain Sgk3:Sgk1 mRNA ratio was 1.0:10.6 in Sgk1+/+ mice. Sgk3 was not augmented in Sgk1-/- mice. We conclude that acute systemic treatment with PBN induces Sgk1 in brain tissue. Sgk1 may play a part in PBN-dependent actions in acute brain ischemia.

The nitrone disodium 2,4-sulphophenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone is without cytoprotective effect on sodium nitroprusside-induced cell death in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells in vitro.

Disodium 2,4-sulphophenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (NXY-059) is a novel free radical-trapping compound that is neuroprotective in both rodent and primate models of acute ischaemic stroke. Neuroprotection in vitro by NXY-059 has not been reported previously, and we have now investigated whether such an effect can be detected using a simple cell culture model of neurotoxicity. Neuron-like cells of the neuroblastoma-derived clonal cell line N1E-115 were exposed to the free radical-generating agent sodium nitroprusside (SNP), which produced a concentration-dependent reduction in mitochondrial complex II activity 24 h later (EC(50) approximately 100 micromolar). Cell death induced by SNP (100 micromolar), assessed either by an increased proportion of apoptotic nuclear morphology or by mitochondrial complex II activity, was inhibited by a cocktail of known antioxidants (ascorbate, reduced glutathione, and dithiothreitol, all at 100 micromolar) but not by NXY-059 at a concentration known to be neuroprotective in vivo (300 micromolar). Disodium 2,4-sulphophenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone was also without effect on H(2)O(2)-mediated cytotoxicity. These results support recent data suggesting that in vivo NXY-059 probably acts at the neurovascular unit rather than at an intracellular site as a neuroprotective agent.

Examining the 'psychopharmacology revolution' (1950-1980) through the advertising of psychoactive drugs in the British Medical Journal.

BACKGROUND: Many modern pharmaceutical products were launched during 1950-1980, as reflected in advertisements in the British Medical Journal ( BMJ). One of the first therapeutic areas to benefit from novel effective medications was psychiatry. METHODS: We examined BMJ advertising material between 1950 and 1980, including every other issue over six-month periods (October-March) in 1950/1951, 1955/1956, 1957/1958, 1960/1961, 1962/1963, 1965/1966, 1967/1968, 1970/1971, 1972/1973, 1975/1976, 1980/1981. We recorded numbers of adverts for all pharmaceutical products and for psychiatric drugs; we also recorded trade names, generic names and marketing company. RESULTS: Advertising in BMJ peaked in the 1960s and declined markedly in the 1970s. Adverts for psychiatric drugs as a percentage of total pharmaceutical product advertising was broadly similar during 1955-1980, but with peaks in 1960/1961, 1970/1971 and 1975/1976, reflecting the entry of several novel compounds into the market. The peak marketing of antipsychotic drugs, sedatives and anxiolytic drugs was in 1960 and of antidepressants 1970. The time course of the rise of tricyclics and the switch from barbiturates to benzodiazepines can be seen. Drugs for psychiatry rose from ninth (1955/1956) to fourth (1975/1976) in terms of the number of products in the top 10 therapeutic areas. There is no evidence that they were advertised more aggressively (number of adverts/number of products). CONCLUSIONS: The birth of modern psychopharmacology is reflected in th e advertising of psychiatric drugs in BMJ. Many drugs currently used, or their closely related successors, were launched in the early to mid-1960s. This rise in modern pharmaceuticals preceded several other major therapeutic areas.

A brief history of British Pharmacological Society meetings.

The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. It is therefore a young society compared with some other biomedical societies and particularly when compared with the origins of the oldest learned societies. In this article, I briefly review the origins of learned societies and examine the rise of pharmacology in the UK, as reflected in the scientific meetings of the BPS. The rapid growth of British pharmacology and clinical pharmacology in the 1970s and 1980s and changes in the way that scientific literature is published have resulted in the BPS having to adapt quickly in the way that its meetings are run. However, evidence suggests that the Society will continue to move strongly and confidently towards its 100th birthday.

Investigating the free radical trapping ability of NXY-059, S-PBN and PBN.

The spin trapping ability of the nitrones 2,4-disulphophenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (NXY-059), 2-sulphophenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (S-PBN) and alpha-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) for both hydroxyl and methanol radicals was investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The radicals of interest were generated in situ in the spectrometer under constant flow conditions in the presence of each nitrone. The spin adducts formed were detected by EPR spectroscopy. This approach allowed for quantitative comparison of the EPR spectra of the spin adducts of each nitrone. The results obtained showed that NXY-059 trapped a greater number of hydroxyl and methanol radicals than the other two nitrones, under the conditions studied.

Therapeutic strategies for the treatment of stroke.

Acute ischaemic stroke is a major health problem with no effective treatments apart from the thrombolytic recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA), which must be given within 3h of stroke onset. However, rt-PA increases the risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage and is administered to <5% of stroke patients. New perfusion-enhancing compounds are in development but the risk:benefit ratio remains to be determined. Many neuroprotective drugs have been studied but all those that reached clinical development have failed to demonstrate efficacy. However, adherence to recently published guidelines on preclinical development has resulted in one novel compound (NXY-059) demonstrating efficacy in a Phase III trial, providing encouragement for the validity of the concept of neuroprotection. There are a variety of new neuroprotective compounds in the early stages of investigation and some could prove clinically effective, provided appropriate preclinical development guidelines are observed.

Neuropharmacology of 5-hydroxytryptamine.

This review outlines the history of our knowledge of the neuropharmacology of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; serotonin), focusing primarily on the work of U.K. scientists. The existence of a vasoconstrictive substance in the blood has been known for over 135 years. The substance was named serotonin and finally identified as 5-HT in 1949. The presence of 5-HT in the brain was reported by Gaddum in 1954 and it was Gaddum who also demonstrated that the action of 5-HT (in the gut) was antagonised by the potent hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide. This provoked the notion that 5-HT played a pivotal role in the control of mood and subsequent investigations have generally confirmed this hypothesis. Over the last 50 years a good understanding has been gained of the mechanisms involved in control of the storage, synthesis and degradation of 5-HT in the brain. Knowledge has also been gained on control of the functional activity of this monoamine, often by the use of behavioural models. A considerable literature also now exists on the mechanisms by which many of the drugs used to treat psychiatric illness alter the functional activity of 5-HT, particularly the drugs used to treat depression. Over the last 20 years the number of identified 5-HT receptor subtypes has increased from 2 to 14, or possibly more. A major challenge now is to utilise this knowledge to develop receptor-specific drugs and use the information gained to better treat central nervous system disorders.

High-dose MDMA does not result in long-term changes in impulsivity in the rat.

RATIONALE: Evidence suggests that recreational users of (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine HCl (MDMA, "ecstasy") have cognitive and behavioral deficits and show increased impulsivity consistent with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurotoxicity. MDMA effects on impulsivity in users are difficult to establish being confounded by polydrug use and individual predisposition to impulsivity or behavioral inhibition. OBJECTIVE: We previously observed a long-term anxiolytic effect of a neurotoxic dose of MDMA on elevated plus maze behavior in Dark Agouti (DA) rats while other strains were reported to show anxiogenesis. We have now examined whether MDMA influences impulsivity producing disinhibited behavior interpretable as anxiolysis. METHODS: Impulsivity was measured using an operant visuospatial discrimination procedure. Male DA rats (n = 24) were trained to lever press for food reward in response to a light-stimulus and subsequently required to withhold responding. Correct responses, premature responses, and response latencies were used as measures of accuracy and impulsivity. Trained rats were administered MDMA (5 mg/kg, i.p. at 3-h intervals to a total of three injections). Performance was measured at 3 h and 7, 27, 49, and 80 days posttreatment. RESULTS: There was a short-term effect of MDMA on the percentage of correct responses at 3 h and day 1 with recovery to control levels by days 7-8 and no significant long-term changes up to day 80. There was no effect of MDMA on premature responses on any of the days measured. MDMA reduced cortical 5-HT content (MDMA 363 +/- 14 ng/g and control 440 +/- 10 ng/g tissue). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that impulsivity may not be directly altered by MDMA despite serotonergic neurotoxicity.

Glutamate receptor-mediated inhibition of L-glutamate efflux from cerebral cortex in vitro.

We tested whether glutamate receptor ligands affect oxygen-glucose deprivation-evoked L-glutamate efflux from adult rat cerebrocortical prisms. The uncompetitive NMDA antagonist AR-R15896AR inhibited efflux (IC50 34 microM, 87% maximal inhibition). AMPA/kainate receptor blockade (NBQX, 100 microM) or Group II metabotropic glutamate receptor activation (DCG-IV, 10 microM) inhibited efflux (41%, 67% respectively) but Group I mGluR blockade (CPCCOEt/MPEP, 10 microM) was without effect. These data support a modulatory effect of glutamate receptors on L-glutamate efflux.

Brain penetration of the novel free radical trapping neuroprotectant NXY-059 in rats subjected to permanent focal ischemia.

The penetration of the free radical trapping neuroprotectant NXY-059 into the brain has been examined in rats subjected to permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). NXY-059 (125 mg/kg bolus followed by 125 mg/kg/h) was infused for 4 h 45 min starting 15 min after right pMCAO or sham operation. At 5 h, there was a similar plasma total NXY-059 concentration (micromol/L) in both groups [sham: 623 +/- 44 (6); pMCAO: 605 +/- 43 (5)] and a similar drug concentration (nmol/g) in the right cortex [sham: 6.92 +/- 1.05 (6); pMCAO: 6.14 +/- 2.18 (6)]. A subsequent experiment in normal rats, infusing NXY-059 at both a similar and higher concentration (252 mg/kg bolus and 252 mg/kg/h), demonstrated that the concentration of NXY-059 in cortex increased linearly with respect to the plasma concentration. These data demonstrate that NXY-059 does penetrate brain tissue in control animals and ischemic tissue of animals subjected to pMCAO.

The acute and long-term neurotoxic effects of MDMA on marble burying behaviour in mice.

When mice are exposed to harmless objects such as marbles in their cage they bury them, a behaviour sometimes known as defensive burying. We investigated the effect of an acute dose of MDMA (èecstasy') and other psychoactive drugs on marble burying and also examined the effect of a prior neurotoxic dose of MDMA or p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) on burying. Acute administration of MDMA produced dose-dependent inhibition of marble burying (EC50: 7.6 micro mol/kg). Other drugs that enhance monoamine function also produced dose-dependent inhibition: methamphetamine PCA paroxetine MDMA GBR 12909 methylphenidate. None of these drugs altered locomotor activity at a dose that inhibited burying. A prior neurotoxic dose of MDMA, which decreased striatal dopamine content by 60%, but left striatal 5-HT content unaltered, did not alter spontaneous marble burying 18 or 40 days later. However, a neurotoxic dose of PCA which decreased striatal dopamine by 60% and striatal 5-HT by 70% attenuated marble burying 28 days later. Overall, these data suggest that MDMA, primarily by acutely increasing 5-HT function, acts like several anxiolytic drugs in this behavioural model. Long-term loss of cerebral 5-HT content also produced a similar effect. Since this change was observed only after 28 days, it is probably due to an adaptive response in the brain.

Caffeine alters the behavioural and body temperature responses to mephedrone without causing long-term neurotoxicity in rats.

Administration of caffeine with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) alters the pharmacological properties of MDMA in rats. The current study examined whether caffeine alters the behavioural and neurochemical effects of mephedrone, which has similar psychoactive effects to MDMA. Rats received either saline, mephedrone (10 mg/kg), caffeine (10 mg/kg) or combined caffeine and mephedrone intraperitoneally twice weekly on consecutive days for three weeks. Locomotor activity (days 1 and 16), novel object discrimination (NOD, day 2), elevated plus maze (EPM) exploration (day 8), rectal temperature changes (day 9) and pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle response (day 15) were assessed. Seven days after the final injection, brain regions were collected for the measurement of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine and their metabolites. Combined caffeine and mephedrone further enhanced the locomotor response observed following either drug administered alone, and converted mephedrone-induced hypothermia to hyperthermia. Co-administration also abolished mephedrone-induced anxiogenic response on the EPM, but had no effect on NOD or PPI. Importantly, no long-term neurotoxicity was detected following repeated mephedrone alone or when co-administered with caffeine. In conclusion, the study suggests a potentially dangerous effect of concomitant caffeine and mephedrone, and highlights the importance of taking polydrug use into consideration when investigating the acute adverse effect profile of popular recreational drugs.

Free radical trapping as a therapeutic approach to neuroprotection in stroke: experimental and clinical studies with NXY-059 and free radical scavengers.

There is substantial experimental evidence that free radicals are produced in the brain during ischemia, during reperfusion and during intracranial hemorrhage. Removal of pathologically produced free radicals is therefore a viable approach to neuroprotection. Four compounds with free radical scavenging activity (tirilazad, ebselen, edaravone) or free radical trapping properties (NXY-059) have been examined in experimental models of stroke and evaluated clinically as neuroprotective agents. Both experimental and clinical results are reviewed in this article. Ebselen was a modestly effective neuroprotectant in a rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model when given before the start of ischemia, but not when the insult was severe. Data from the permanent MCAO model and an embolic stroke model suggested a bell shaped dose-response curve. The weak preclinical profile may explain the lack of success in clinical trials. Preclinical data on tirilazad in animal models of acute ischemic stroke are neither comprehensive nor consistent. There was little evidence of efficacy in permanent MCAO or when the drug was given several hours post-occlusion. This may explain the negative clinical trials as these did not target patients likely to reperfuse and treatment started several hours after stroke onset. While preclinical data on subarachnoid hemorrhage demonstrated an attenuation of vasospasm the clinical data were inconsistent. There is very limited published preclinical data on edaravone but it has been approved in Japan as a neuroprotectant for the treatment of stroke. Evidence is based on a single placebo controlled trial in a relatively small number of patients. The status of possible development of edaravone outside of Japan is not known. NXY-059 has been found to be a very effective agent in transient and permanent MCAO and thromboembolic models of acute ischemic stroke. Its preclinical development has been governed by adherence with the recommendations of the Stroke Therapy Academic Industry Roundtable (STAIR) group and is now being investigated in Phase III clinical trials using a therapeutic time window and plasma concentrations that are effective in rat and primate models of stroke.

Elevation of ambient room temperature has differential effects on MDMA-induced 5-HT and dopamine release in striatum and nucleus accumbens of rats.

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces acute dopamine and 5-HT release in rat brain and a hyperthermic response, which is dependent on the ambient room temperature in which the animal is housed. We examined the effect of ambient room temperature (20 and 30 degrees C) on MDMA-induced dopamine and 5-HT efflux in the striatum and shell of nucleus accumbens (NAc) of freely moving rats by using microdialysis. Locomotor activity and rectal temperature were also evaluated. In the NAc, MDMA (2.5 or 5 mg/kg, i.p.) produced a substantial increase in extracellular dopamine, which was more marked at 30 degrees C. 5-HT release was also increased by MDMA given at 30 degrees C. In contrast, MDMA-induced extracellular dopamine and 5-HT increases in the striatum were unaffected by ambient temperature. At 20 degrees C room temperature, MDMA did not modify the rectal temperature but at 30 degrees C it produced a rapid and sustained hyperthermia. MDMA at 20 degrees C room temperature produced a two-fold increase in activity compared with saline-treated controls. The MDMA-induced increase in locomotor activity was more marked at 30 degrees C due to a decrease in the activity of the saline-treated controls at this high ambient temperature. These results show that high ambient temperature enhances MDMA-induced locomotor activity and monoamine release in the shell of NAc, a region involved in the incentive motivational properties of drugs of abuse, and suggest that the rewarding effects of MDMA may be more pronounced at high ambient temperature.