SDA (drug)
SDA, also known as 3,4-methylenethiooxyamphetamine, is a putative entactogen and psychedelic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine families related to 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine. It is the analogue of MDA in which the oxygen atom at the 3 position within the 3,4-methylenedioxy substitution has been replaced with a sulfur atom to give a 1,3-benzoxathiole rather than 1,3-benzodioxole ring system. The drug is also the N-desmethyl analogue of 3,4-methylenethiooxy-N-methylamphetamine.
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Similarly to MDA, SDA is a serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine releasing agent and a non-selective serotonin 5-HT2 receptor agonist. However, SDA was 16-fold more potent as a serotonin releaser, 16-fold more potent as a dopamine releaser, and 2-fold more potent as a norepinephrine releaser than MDA in HEK293 cells in vitro. In addition, it was 2- to 3-fold more potent as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C receptors than MDA. SDA had largely similar activational efficacies at the serotonin 5-HT2 receptors as MDA. Due to its greater potency as a monoamine releasing agent, SDA may be active at lower doses or concentrations than MDA.SDA produced hyperlocomotion and hyperthermia in rodents and to a greater extent than SDMA or MDMA. However, SDA did not produce significant rewarding effects in the conditioned place preference paradigm unlike MDMA but similarly to SDMA. Hence, SDA might have reduced misuse potential compared to other related drugs like MDMA. Similarly to findings with MDA, SDA produced the head-twitch response, a behavioral proxy of psychedelic effects, in rodents, and hence may produce hallucinogenic effects in humans. Unlike SDMA and MDMA, SDA produced thigmotaxis in the open field test, an anxiety-like effect. SDA may be cardiotoxic due to serotonin 5-HT2B receptor agonism.