How Postmortem Redistribution of MDMA in Acute Alcohol-MDMA Combined-Use Rats Change under Effects of Alcohol

MDMA is often taken recreationally with alcohol as combined-use. The objective was to determine MDMA postmortem redistribution (PMR) and corresponding effects in combined-style under different storage conditions. Steps were 20%-mixture of alcohol-water for initial 4 weeks to Group-A&B and intragastric infusions of MDMA (150 mg/kg) to Group-A later; in the same time, drinking pure water to Group-C&D first and then MDMA-fed to Group-C. The sacrificed rats were kept under different conditions for 10-d, during which the body fluids and tissues were collected on 15 continuous time-points and then detected. The MDMA concentrations were quite different along with postmortem interval (PMI) went by; the area under concentration-PMI curve significantly increased with combined-alcohol in comparison to MDMA alone, while that significantly decreased by lowering preservation temperature, allied with corresponding humidity. Combined-alcohol could exacerbate PMR of MDMA, as concentrations of combined-use rats’ samples were quite higher than mono-MDMA ones under any conditions, while different for body fluids and tissues; meanwhile lowering storage temperature could alleviate effects of alcohol. The study implies that in case of combined-use, the changes of concentrations are probably effected by some combined component, especially when come to identification of toxic level or even death.