PMID- 22607774
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20121130
LR  - 20131121
IS  - 1532-2777 (Electronic)
IS  - 0306-9877 (Linking)
VI  - 79
IP  - 2
DP  - 2012 Aug
TI  - Could piracetam potentiate behavioural effects of psychostimulants?
PG  - 216-8
LID - 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.04.041 [doi]
AB  - Press and internet reports mention abuse of nootropic drug piracetam (PIR) in 
      combination with psychostimulants methamphetamine (MET) or 
      4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). These combinations are believed to 
      produce more profound desirable effects, while decreasing hangover. However, 
      there is a lack of valid experimental studies on such drug-drug interactions in 
      the scientific literature available. Our hypothesis proposes that a functional 
      interaction exists between PIR and amphetamine psychostimulants (MET and MDMA) 
      which can potentiate psychostimulant behavioural effects. Our hypothesis is 
      supported by the results of our pilot experiment testing acute effects of drugs 
      given to mice intraperitoneally (Vehicle, n=12; MET 2.5mg/kg, n=10; MDMA 
      2.5mg/kg, n=11; PIR 300 mg/kg, n=12; PIR+MET, n=12; PIR+MDMA, n=11) in the Open 
      Field Test (Actitrack, Panlab, Spain). PIR given alone caused no significant 
      changes in mouse locomotor/exploratory behaviour, whereas the same dose combined 
      with either MET or MDMA significantly enhanced their stimulatory effects. 
      Different possible neurobiological mechanism underlying drug-drug interaction of 
      PIR with MET or MDMA are discussed, as modulation of dopaminergic, glutamatergic 
      or cholinergic brain systems. However, the interaction with membrane 
      phospholipids seems as the most plausible mechanism explaining PIR action on 
      activities of neurotransmitter systems. Despite that our behavioural experiment 
      cannot serve for explanation of the pharmacological mechanisms of these 
      functional interactions, it shows that PIR effects can increase behavioural 
      stimulation of amphetamine drugs. Thus, the reported combining of PIR with MET or 
      MDMA by human abusers is not perhaps a coincidental phenomenon and may be based 
      on existing PIR potential to intensify acute psychostimulant effects of these 
      drugs of abuse.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
FAU - Slais, Karel
AU  - Slais K
AD  - CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, 
      Czech Republic. kslais@med.muni.cz
FAU - Machalova, Alena
AU  - Machalova A
FAU - Landa, Leos
AU  - Landa L
FAU - Vrskova, Dagmar
AU  - Vrskova D
FAU - Sulcova, Alexandra
AU  - Sulcova A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20120517
PL  - United States
TA  - Med Hypotheses
JT  - Medical hypotheses
JID - 7505668
RN  - 0 (Amphetamines)
RN  - 0 (Central Nervous System Stimulants)
RN  - 0 (Neuroprotective Agents)
RN  - ZH516LNZ10 (Piracetam)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amphetamines/*administration & dosage
MH  - Animals
MH  - Behavior, Animal/drug effects/*physiology
MH  - Central Nervous System Stimulants/*administration & dosage
MH  - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
MH  - Drug Synergism
MH  - Drug Therapy, Combination
MH  - Mice
MH  - Neuroprotective Agents/*administration & dosage
MH  - Piracetam/*administration & dosage
EDAT- 2012/05/23 06:00
MHDA- 2012/12/10 06:00
CRDT- 2012/05/22 06:00
PHST- 2012/03/11 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2012/04/27 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2012/05/22 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2012/05/23 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/12/10 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0306-9877(12)00206-X [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.04.041 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Med Hypotheses. 2012 Aug;79(2):216-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.04.041. Epub 2012 
      May 17.