4-Methylamphetamine
4-Methylamphetamine, also known by the former proposed brand name Aptrol, is a stimulant and anorectic drug of the amphetamine family. It is structurally related to mephedrone.
Pharmacology
In vitro, 4-methylamphetamine acts as a potent and well-balanced serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine releasing agent with values of 53.4nM, 22.2nM, and 44.1nM at the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine transporters, respectively. Receptor interaction data for 4-methylamphetamine have also been reported.However, more recent in vivo studies that involved performing microdialysis on rats showed a different trend. These studies showed that 4-methylamphetamine is much more potent at elevating serotonin relative to dopamine. The authors speculated that this is because 5-HT release dampens DA release through some mechanism. For example, it was suggested that a possible cause for this could be activation of 5HT2C receptors since this is known to inhibit DA release. In addition there are alternative explanations such as 5-HT release then going on to encourage GABA release, which has an inhibitory effect on DA neurons.
In animal studies, 4-MA was shown to have the lowest rate of self-administration out of a range of similar drugs tested, likely as a result of having the highest potency for releasing serotonin relative to dopamine.