Introduction. Novel synthetic ‘designer’ drugs with stimulant, ecstasy-like (entactogenic) and/or hallucinogenic properties have become increasingly popular among recreational drug users in recent years. The substances used change frequently in response to market trends and legislative controls and it is an important challenge for poisons centres and clinical toxicologists to remain updated on the pharmacological and toxicological effects of these emerging agents. Aims. To review the available information on newer synthetic stimulant, entactogenic and hallucinogenic drugs, provide a framework for classification of these drugs based on chemical structure and describe their pharmacology and clinical toxicology. Methods. A comprehensive review of the published literature was performed using PUBMED and Medline databases, together with additional non-peer reviewed information sources, including books, media reports, government publications and internet resources, including drug user web forums. Epidemiology. N...

Clinical toxicology of newer recreational drugs.

Background—Coadministration of phentermine and fenfluramine (phen/fen) effectively treats obesity and possibly addictive disorders. The association of fenfluramine and certain other anorexic agents with serious side effects, such as cardiac valvulopathy and primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), limits the clinical utility of these drugs. Development of new medications that produce neurochemical effects like phen/fen without causing unwanted side effects would be a significant therapeutic breakthrough. Methods and Results—We tested the hypothesis that fenfluramine (and other anorexic agents) might increase the risk of PPH through interactions with serotonin (5-HT) transporters. Because 5-HT transporter proteins in the lung and brain are identical, we examined, in rat brain, the effects of selected drugs on 5-HT efflux in vivo and monoamine transporters in vitro as a generalized index of transporter function. Our data show that drugs known or suspected to increase the risk of PPH (eg, aminorex, fenfluramine...

Aminorex, Fenfluramine, and Chlorphentermine Are Serotonin Transporter Substrates Implications for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension

Psychoactive substances with chemical structures or pharmacological profiles that are similar to traditional drugs of abuse continue to emerge on the recreational drug market. Internet vendors may at least temporarily sell these so-called designer drugs without adhering to legal statutes or facing legal consequences. Overall, the mechanism of action and adverse effects of designer drugs are similar to traditional drugs of abuse. Stimulants, such as amphetamines and cathinones, primarily interact with monoamine transporters and mostly induce sympathomimetic adverse effects. Agonism at μ-opioid receptors and γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) or GABAB receptors mediates the pharmacological effects of sedatives, which may induce cardiorespiratory depression. Dissociative designer drugs primarily act as N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists and pose similar health risks as the medically approved dissociative anesthetic ketamine. The cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor is thought to drive the psychoactive effects of synthetic cannabinoids, which are associated with a less desirable effect profile and more severe adverse effects compared with cannabis. Serotonergic 5-hydroxytryptamine-2A (5-HT2A) receptors mediate alterations of perception and cognition that are induced by serotonergic psychedelics. Because of their novelty, designer drugs may remain undetected by routine drug screening, thus hampering evaluations of adverse effects. Intoxication reports suggest that several designer drugs are used concurrently, posing a high risk for severe adverse effects and even death.

/pdf/designer-drugs-mechanism-of-action-and-adverse-effects-2757kpwsl7.pdf

Designer drugs: mechanism of action and adverse effects

Resistance to antibiotics is a major global problem and there is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic agents. Although many classes of active compounds have been established as efficient derivatives in diverse fields of antimicrobial therapy, they have not yet found wide application against a few deadly microbes. In recent years, compounds have been developed that have solved some of the problems posed; for example improved bioavailability is one of the targets achieved with most of the more recent compounds, allowing for once-daily dosing. Benzofuran and its derivatives are found to be suitable structures, existing widely in natural products and unnatural compounds with a wide range of biological and pharmacological applications; thus, considerable attention has been focused on the discovery of new drugs in the fields of drug invention and development. Some benzofuran derivatives, such as psoralen, 8-methoxypsoralen and angelicin have been used in the treatment of skin diseases such as cancer or psoriasis. The unique structural features of benzofuran and its wide array of biological activities make it a privileged structure in the field of drug discovery, especially in the search for efficient antimicrobial candidates. Recently, this scaffold has emerged as a pharmacophore of choice for designing antimicrobial agents that are active toward different clinically approved targets. To pave the way for future research, there is a need to collect the latest information in this promising area. In the present review, we collated the published reports on this versatile core to provide a deeper insight, so that its full therapeutic potential can be utilized for the treatment of microbial diseases. This study systematically provides a comprehensive report on current developments in benzofuran-based compounds as antimicrobial agents and is also helpful for the researchers working on a substitution pattern around the nucleus, with an aim to help medicinal chemists to develop structure activity relationships (SAR) on these derivatives as antimicrobial drugs.

/pdf/benzofuran-an-emerging-scaffold-for-antimicrobial-agents-11v1diimlx.pdf

Benzofuran: an emerging scaffold for antimicrobial agents

Introduction. ‘Legal highs’ are psychoactive chemicals which are sold from ‘head shops’, the internet and from street suppliers and may be possessed without legal restriction. An increase in the ma...

‘Legal Highs’ – novel and emerging psychoactive drugs: a chemical overview for the toxicologist

Benzofuran, indan and tetrahydronaphthalene analogs of 3,4-(methylenedioxy)amphetamine (MDA) were prepared in order to examine the role of the dioxole ring oxygen atoms of MDA in interacting with the serotonin and catecholamine uptake carriers. The series of compounds was evaluated for discriminative stimulus effects in rats trained to discriminate saline from the training drugs (S)-(+)-MBDB (1c), MMAI (3), and (S)-(+)-amphetamine and for the ability to inhibit the uptake of [3H]serotonin, [3H]dopamine, and [3H]norepinephrine into crude synaptosome preparations. Behaviorally, the benzofuran and indan analogs 4-6 produced similar discriminative cues, whereas the tetralin derivative 7 did not fully substitute for the training drugs. The results in the in vitro pharmacology studies indicate that selectivity for 5-HT versus catecholamine uptake carriers may be modulated by the position and orientation of ring oxygen atoms. However, the nonoxygenated isostere 6 possessed high potency at all uptake sites examined. Enlargement of the saturated ring by one methylene unit to give the tetralin derivative resulted in a large (3-4-fold) reduction in activity at catecholamine sites.

Synthesis and pharmacological examination of benzofuran, indan, and tetralin analogues of 3,4-(methylenedioxy)amphetamine.

N-Ethyl-5-trifluoromethyl-2-aminoindan (ETAI) and 5-trifluoromethyl-2-aminoindan (TAI) were synthesized to examine the effects of side-chain cyclization on the pharmacology of the anorectic drugs fenfluramine (FEN) and norfenfluramine (norFEN), respectively. ETAI and TAI inhibited synaptosomal accumulation of 5-HT but were less effective at inhibiting catecholamine uptake than FEN or norFEN, respectively. In vivo, ETAI and TAI were less neurotoxic than FEN or norFEN; decreases in the number of [3H]paroxetine-labeled 5-HT uptake sites were 50% less than the decreases produced by FEN or norFEN. Rats treated with ETAI, TAI, FEN, and norFEN lost 10–15% of their pretreatment body weight over a 4-day period, while saline-treated control animals gained 8%. In two-lever drug discrimination (DD) assays in rats, TAI fully substituted for the 5-HT releaser/uptake inhibitor, (+)-MBDB [(+)-N-methyl-1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-aminobutane]. ETAI produced only partial substitution in this test. Neither TAI nor ETAI mimicked (+)-amphetamine in the DD assay. These studies demonstrate that incorporation of the side-chain of phenylisopropylamines into the five-membered ring of a 2-aminoindan changes both the molecular pharmacology and the neurotoxic profile of FEN and norFEN, but does not diminish the drugs’ ability to reduce body weight.

Indan analogs of fenfluramine and norfenfluramine have reduced neurotoxic potential

Synthesis and Pharmacological Examination of Benzofuran, Indan, and Tetralin Analogues of 3,4‐(Methylenedioxy)amphetamine.

Conformationally Restricted Tetrahydro-1-benzoxepin Analogues of Hallucinogenic Phenethylamines.

Conformationally restricted tetrahydro-1-benzoxepin analogs of hallucinogenic phenethylamines

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