Sara Soleimani Asl1, Mohammad Hassan Farhadi2, Nasser Naghdi3, Samira Choopani3, Alireza Samzadeh-Kermani4, Mehdi Mehdizadeh1, 5

1Anatomical Department, Medicine Faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Tehran Province, Iran
2Substance Abuse and Dependence Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran 3834198571, Tehran Province, Iran
3Physiological & Pharmacological Department, Pasture Institute, Tehran 13164, Tehran Province, Iran
4Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, Zabol University, Zabol 9861663335, Sistan Baloochestan Province, Iran
5Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Tehran Province, Iran

Abstract
3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; also known as ‘ecstasy’) has been shown to impair learning and spatial memory in adult and neonatal rats. Many studies have focused on the acute effects of MDMA on memory. In the present study, we intraperitoneally administered MDMA (0, 5, 10, 20 mg/kg) to adult male rats to investigate the effects of different doses on rat spatial memory in the Morris water maze, body temperature, and mortality, twice a day, for 7 successive days. The results indicated that MDMA impaired spatial memory dose-dependently, with the highest dose (20 mg/kg) exerting the strongest effects. In addition, MDMA also caused hyperthermia and increased mortality in rats.
Key Words: 3, 4-methylendioxymethamphetamine; Morris water maze; spatial memory; neural regeneration

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