Comment · Thu, November 22, 2012
MDMA Neurotoxicity Part 1 (Metabolites)
Original post in this thread
MisterYouAreSoDumb · 77 points
This is probably going to be the first in a series of discussions I start about MDMA. There's just too much information for one post. Therefore, I am going to start with one that is very interesting to me: MDMA's metabolites and their role in neurotoxicity. I pre-appologise for the length and terminology used.
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First off, let's discuss how MDMA is metabolized. The human cytochrome CYP450 is responsible for the metabolism of MDMA. The primary enzyme responsible is CYP2D6, using O-demethylation. This process adds two hydrogen atoms to the two open oxygen atoms in MDMA to create HHMA. Let's look at the structure for a minute.
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MDMA is 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine
HHMA is 3,4-dihydroxy-N-methylamphetamine
So your CYP2D6 enzyme added two hydrogen atoms to the methylenedioxy structure to create a dihydroxy structure. Once it's been o-demethylated to HHMA, it is no longer active like MDMA is. HHMA can then be 0-methylated further to HMMA, or 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-N-methylamphetamine. Here is an image to help you visualize this process.
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What they were answering
handsomguy101 · 2 points
Do you by any chance go on longecity
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
I go on all the forums. I have for years, but I do not post. I simply soak in information, come up with postulations, then search for evidence. I have refrained from jumping into the mix so far. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so I wanted to make sure that I was extremely well informed before I started to influence others with my posts. I have only been commenting on here for a little while, and this is my first self post. I've read a metric shitload of posts, articles, papers, and diagrams from all over the internet. I really spend too much time on it, but it interests me so much!