Metabolism of Designer Drugs of Abuse: An Updated Review

Markus      R. Meyer; Hans      H. Maurer

Abstract

This paper reviews the metabolism of new designer drugs of abuse that have emerged on the black market during the last years and is an update of a review published in 2005. The presented review contains data concerning the so-called 2C compounds (phenethylamine type) such as 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxy-beta-phenethylamine (2C-B), 4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxy-beta-phenethylamine (2C-I), 2,5- dimethoxy-4-methyl-beta-phenethylamine (2C-D), 4-ethyl-2,5-dimethoxy-beta-phenethylamine (2C-E), 4-ethylthio-2,5-dimethoxy-beta-phenethylamine (2C-T-2), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylthio-beta-phenethylamine (2C-T-7), beta-keto designer drugs such as 2- methylamino-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)butan-1-one (butylone, bk-MBDB), 2-ethylamino-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-1- one (ethylone, bk-MDEA), 2-methylamino-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)propan-1-one (methylone, bk-MDMA), and 2-methylamino-1- p-tolylpropane-1-one (mephedrone, 4-methyl-methcathinone), pyrrolidinophenones such as 4-methyl-pyrrolidinobutyrophenone (MPBP) and alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (PVP), phencyclidine-derived drugs such as N-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)-propanamine (PCPr), N-(1- phenyl-cyclohexyl)-2-ethoxyethanamine (PCEEA), N-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)-3-methoxypropanamine (PCMPA), and N-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)- 2-methoxyethanamine (PCMEA), tryptamines such as 5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT), and finally alpha- methylfentanyl (alpha-MF) and 3-methylfentanyl (3-MF). Papers have been considered and reviewed on the identification of in vivo or in vitro human or animal metabolites and the cytochrome P450 or monoamineoxidase isoenzyme-dependent metabolism.

Keywords: Designer drugs, phenethylamines, beta-keto amphetamines, pyrrolidinophenones, phencyclidines, tryptamines, fentanyls, cytochrome P450, monoamineoxidase