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CompletedNCT05277636R-S-MDMAUpdated Jan 17, 2024

Acute Effects of R- and S-MDMA in Healthy Subjects

A Phase 1 interventional study of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and S-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in Healthy, sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. Completed at 1 site in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-01-17.

Sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland · Phase 1, Interventional, and Basic science

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Racemic ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a psychoactive substance and prototypical empathogen acutely inducing feelings of heightened mood, empathy, trust and closeness to others. These acute subjective effects of MDMA may be helpful to assist psychotherapy and MDMA is currently investigated in phase 3 trials as a possible treatment in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Read the detailed description

MDMA is a racemic substance containing equal amounts of the enantiomers S(+)- and R(-)-MDMA. Preclinical research indicates that S-MDMA mainly releases dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and oxytocin while R-MDMA may act more directly on 5-HT2A receptors and release prolactin. Animal studies also indicate that the two enantiomers act synergistically to produce the subjective effects of MDMA and that S-MDMA is mainly responsible for psychostimulation while R-MDMA may have fewer adverse effects and have greater prosocial effects. However, acute effects of S- and R-MDMA have never been validly examined in a human study. Therefore, the present study compares acute responses to R-MDMA, S-MDMA, MDMA, and placebo in a cross-over study in healthy subjects.

02

Conditions studied

  • Healthy
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland is the lead sponsor of 968 studies on the registry; 191 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  1. Age between 18 and 65 years.
  2. Understanding of the German language.
  3. Understanding the procedures and the risks that are associated with the study.
  4. Participants must be willing to adhere to the protocol and sign the consent form.
  5. Participants must be willing to refrain from taking illicit psychoactive substances during the study.
  6. Participants must be willing to drink only alcohol-free liquids and no coffee, black or green tea, or energy drink after midnight of the evening before the study session, as well as during the study day.
  7. Participants must be willing not to drive a traffic vehicle or to operate machines within 48 h after substance administration.
  8. Willing to use double-barrier birth control throughout study participation.
  9. Body mass index between 18-29 kg/m2.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Chronic or acute medical condition
  2. Current or previous major psychiatric disorder
  3. Psychotic disorder in first-degree relatives, not including psychotic disorders secondary to an apparent medical reason, e.g. brain injury, dementia, or lesions of the brain.
  4. Hypertension (SBP>140/90 mmHg) or hypotension (SBP\<85 mmHg)
  5. Illicit substance use (not including cannabis) more than 20 times or any time within the previous month
  6. Pregnant or nursing women.
  7. Participation in another clinical trial (currently or within the last 30 days).
  8. Use of medications that may interfere with the effects of the study medications.
  9. Tobacco smoking (>10 cigarettes/day).
  10. Consumption of alcoholic drinks (>15 drinks/week).
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator)
Enrollment
24 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    125 mg MDMA

    MDMA (125 mg)

    Drug: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

  • Experimental
    125 mg S-MDMA

    S-MDMA (125 mg)

    Drug: S-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

  • Experimental
    125 mg R-MDMA

    R-MDMA (125 mg)

    Drug: R-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (125 mg)

  • Experimental
    250 mg R-MDMA

    R-MDMA (250 mg)

    Drug: R-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (250 mg)

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Placebo

    Other: Placebo

Interventions

  • Drug3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

    A dose of 125 mg racemic MDMA will be administered.

    Also known as: MDMA

  • DrugS-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

    A dose of 125 mg enantiomeric S-MDMA will be administered.

    Also known as: S-MDMA

  • DrugR-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (125 mg)

    A dose of 125 mg enantiomeric R-MDMA will be administered.

    Also known as: R-MDMA

  • DrugR-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (250 mg)

    A dose of 250 mg enantiomeric R-MDMA will be administered.

    Also known as: R-MDMA

  • OtherPlacebo

    Placebo (Mannitol)

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Subjective effects I

    5 Dimensions of Altered States of Consciousness (5D-ASC) consisting of 94 items to be rated on a visual analog scale (0-100 mm), with higher values indicating stronger effects with higher scores representing more intense effects. Assessed once on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  2. Subjective effects II

    Stimulation on the Visual Analog Scales (VAS) assessing the intensity and duration of the stimulant effect on a scale from 0 - 100 percent with higher scores representing more intense effects. Assessed 18 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Autonomic effects I

    Assessed 18 times on each study day via systolic and diastolic blood pressure

    Time frame: 18 months

  2. Autonomic effects II

    Assessed 18 times on each study day via heart rate

    Time frame: 18 months

  3. Autonomic effects III

    Assessed 18 times on each study day via tympanic body temperature

    Time frame: 18 months

  4. Adverse effects

    Assessed 3 times on each study day with the list of complaints (LC)

    Time frame: 18 months

  5. Mood after study day I

    Assessed once 3 days after administration via the Beck Depressionindex questionnaire (BDI) with low values indicating normal mood and high values indicating severe depression

    Time frame: 18 months

  6. Mood after study day II

    Assessed once 3 days after administration via Symptom checklist 90R (SCL-90R) to evaluate a number of different psychological symptoms.

    Time frame: 18 months

  7. Mood after study day III

    Assessed once 3 days after administration via list of complaints (LC)

    Time frame: 18 months

  8. Mood after study day IV

    Assessed once 3 days after administration via adjective mood rating scale (AMRS)

    Time frame: 18 months

  9. Plasma levels of cortisol

    Assessed 3 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  10. Plasma levels of prolactin

    Assessed 3 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  11. Plasma levels of oxytocin

    Assessed 4 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  12. Plasma levels of vasopressin

    Assessed 4 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  13. Plasma levels of S-MDMA

    Assessed 17 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  14. Plasma levels of R-MDMA

    Assessed 17 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  15. Plasma levels of S-MDA

    Assessed 17 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  16. Plasma levels of R-MDA

    Assessed 17 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  17. Additional subjective effects I

    Visual Analog Scales (VAS) assessing the intensity and duration of subjective effects on a scale from 0 - 100 percent with higher scores representing more intense effects. Assessed 18 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  18. Additional subjective effects II

    Adjective Mood Rating Scale (AMRS) assesses the occurrence and intensity of 60 moods on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all" to "extremely" assessed 4 times on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  19. States of Consciousness Questionnaire

    Assesses the emergence and intensity of phenomenons occurring in altered states of consciousness on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 5 ("extremely") once on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  20. Spiritual Realms Questionnaire

    Assesses the spiritual phenomenons elicited by psychedelic substances through 11 main questions to be answered on a total of 65 sub-ordered 100mm visual analog scales once on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  21. Psychological Insight Questionnaire

    Assesses the degree of psychological insight caused by a psychedelic experience through 14-items to be answered on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 5 ("extremely") once on each study day

    Time frame: 18 months

  22. NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI)

    The NEO-FFI is a self-description questionnaire with 60 items for the measurement of the "big five": neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and consciousness. It uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "completely disagree" to "fully agree".

    Time frame: Baseline

  23. Freiburger Personality Inventory (FPI-R)

    The FPI-R version comprises 138 items and covers 12 dimensions of personality: life satisfaction, social orientation, performance orientation, inhibition, excitability, aggressiveness, stress, physical complaints, health concerns, openness, as well as the secondary factors according to Eysenck's Extraversion and Emotionality (Neuroticism). It uses a 2-point scale ("true" and "not true").

    Time frame: Baseline

  24. Saarbrücker Personality Questionnaire (SPF)

    The SPF defines empathy as the "reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another." It assesses 28-items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "Does not describe me well" to "Describes me very well". The measure has 4 subscales (Perspective Taking, Fantasy, Empathic Concern, Personal Distress) each made up of 7 different items.

    Time frame: Baseline

  25. HEXACO personality inventory

    The HEXACO personality inventory is a six-dimensional model of human personality with 100 items.The six factors are: Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience.

    Time frame: Baseline

  26. Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40)

    The DSQ-40 can provide scores for 20 individual defenses, and scores for the three factors "mature", "neurotic", and "immature". Each item is evaluated on a scale from 1 to 9, where "1" indicates "completely disagree" and "9" indicates "fully agree".

    Time frame: Baseline

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University Hospital Basel
    Basel, Switzerland
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 17, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05277636
Lead sponsor
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 14, 2022
Start date
Oct 1, 2022
Primary completion
Jan 13, 2024
Completion
Jan 13, 2024
Last update
Jan 17, 2024

Study contacts

Matthias E Liechti, MD
principal investigator · University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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