CompletedPhase 1

Effects of MDMA-like Substances in Healthy Subjects

NCT04847206 · MDMA-like · University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Closed to entry

Status

Not accepting participants

Phase 1

Phase

Target enrolment

Study sites

Outside the US

What it is testing

Summary

The serotonin (5-HT) and oxytocin releaser and so-called "empathogen" 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) acutely produces positive feelings, empathy, and trust. MDMA is used recreationally (ecstasy), as research tool to study 5-HT and oxytocin function, and is investigated for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. MDMA is metabolized in part (10%) to the psychoactive metabolite 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) which itself is also a recreational substance and has also been used to assist psychotherapy in the past. The present study aims to describe and directly compare for the first time the effects of MDMA and MDA in the same healthy volunteers and using modern psychological and psychometric tests. Additionally, although amphetamines including MDMA and MDA induce mainly positive subjective effects they may also produce negative subjective drug effects including anxiety in particular at the onset of the subjective response and the rapid onset of euphoria may increase the risk of abuse. Additionally, blood pressure may increase rapidly at drug onset. A possible solution to mitigate anxiety, abuse-related rapid euphoria increases and/or rapid blood pressure changes at onset consist of slowing the onset of the drug effect by using a slow-release formulation of MDMA. In the present study, the investigators will characterize the effects of lysine-MDMA and lysine-MDA and compare their effects with MDMA/MDA to test the concept of attenuated effects across both substances.

Summary as written by the trial’s own sponsor and published on ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. It is the sponsor’s description, reproduced unedited, not an assessment by this site.

What counts as success

Primary outcome measures

Acute subjective effects I
Measured over 18 months
Plasma levels of MDMA
Measured over 18 months
Plasma levels of MDA
Measured over 18 months

A trial succeeds or fails on its primary outcome, declared in advance. Everything else it reports is secondary by definition.

Who can take part

Eligibility, as published

18 Years to 65 Years

Ages

All

Sex

Accepted

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age between 18 and 65 years old 2. Sufficient understanding of the German language 3. Understanding of procedures and risks associated with the study 4. Willing to adhere to the protocol and signing of the consent form 5. Willing to refrain from the consumption of illicit psychoactive substances during the study 6. Abstaining from xanthine-based liquids from the evenings prior to the study sessions to the end of the study days 7. Willing not to operate heavy machinery within 48 hours after substance administration 8. Willing to use double-barrier birth control throughout study participation 9. Body mass index between 18-29 kg/m2 Exclusion Criteria: 1. Chronic or acute medical condition 2. Current or previous major psychiatric disorder 3. Psychotic disorder or bipolar disorder in first-degree relatives 4. Hypertension (\>140/90 mmHg) or hypotension (SBP\<85 mmHg) 5. Hallucinogenic substance or MDMA use more than 20 times or use of any illicit substance within the previous two months (not including cannabis) 6. Pregnancy or current breastfeeding 7. Participation in another clinical trial (currently or within the last 30 days) 8. Use of medication that may interfere with the effects of the study medication 9. Tobacco smoking (\>10 cigarettes/day) 10. Consumption of alcoholic beverages (\>20 drinks/week)

Where

1 study site

Facility	City	Region	Country
University Hospital Basel, Clinical Trial Unit	Basel	Canton of Basel-City	Switzerland

On the registry

Contact the trial directly

This site does not enrol anyone and is not involved in this trial. To ask about taking part, use the sponsor’s own contact details on the official registry record, which is also where the most current version of everything above lives.

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NCT04847206 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Last updated in the registry 2024-08-14. Registry records change; this page reflects the data build of 2026-08-25.

Where this trial sits

Substance

MDMA

All 48 trials from University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland →