Venue: Centre Broca
Liana Fattore
Istituto di Neuroscienze – University of Cagliari, Italy
http://www.in.cnr.it/index.php/it/9-people/85-liana-fattore
Invited by Marc Landry
Title
Pharmacology and toxicology of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS)
Abstract
In the last decade, the trend of drug consumption has completely changed, and several new psychoactive substances (NPS) have appeared on the drug market as legal alternatives to common drugs of abuse. Designed to reproduce the effects of illegal substances like cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, or ketamine, NPS are only in part controlled by UN conventions and represent an emerging threat to global public health. The effects of NPS greatly differ from drug to drug and relatively scarce information is available at present about their pharmacology and potential toxic effects. Yet, compared to more traditional drugs, more dangerous short- and long-term effects have been associated with their use, and hospitalizations and fatal intoxications have also been reported after NPS use. After a general overview of this new phenomenon, the talk will provide preclinical evidence of the effects that arylcyclohexylamine derivatives (i.e., methoxetamine), phenethylamines (i.e., 2-Cl-4,5-MDMA), synthetic cannabinoids (i.e., JWH-018, AKB-48) and cathinones (i.e., 3,4-MDPHP) can induce on brain and behavior.