Synergistic effects of MDMA and ethanol on behavior Possible effects of ethanol on dopamine D
Polydrug abuse is common among drug abusers. In particular, psychostimulants are often taken with ethanol, and the combination of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and alcohol is one of the most common forms of polydrug abuse. However, the mechanism by which these drugs influence behavior remains unclear. The present study was designed to delineate the mechanisms that underlie the effects of the interaction between MDMA and ethanol on behavior in rodents. The combination of MDMA with ethanol enhanced their locomotor-increasing, rewarding, and discriminative stimulus effects without enhancing their effects on the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens in rodents. In addition, ethanol potently enhanced locomotor activity produced by the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine in mice. In antagonism tests, the dopamine D