4-Methoxyphenethylamine (4-MPEA), also known as O-methyltyramine, is a drug of the phenethylamine family. "The 2-carbon analog of 4-MA, is 4-methoxyphenethylamine, or MPEA. This is a kissing cousin to DMPEA, of such fame in the search for a urine factor that could be related to schizophrenia. And the end results of the search for this compound in the urine of mentally ill patients are as controversial as they were for DMPEA. There has been no confirmed relationship to the diagnosis. And efforts to see if it is centrally active were failures—at dosages of up to 400 milligrams in man, there was no activity." It is one of the methoxyphenethylamine positional isomers. Along with mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine), 4-MPEA is naturally occurring in Lophophora williamsii (peyote) and other cacti. It has also been found in the flowering plant Erica lusitanica, as well as in human urine.
Use and effects 4-MPEA was inactive in humans at a dose of up to 400mg.
Pharmacology
4-MPEA has been found to act as a serotonin releasing agent and norepinephrine releasing agent in vitro. It has also been found to be very weakly active as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, whereas dopamine release induction does not appear to have been assessed. The drug showed very low affinity for the serotonin receptors in the rat stomach fundus strip (A2 = 7,940nM). 4-MPEA is a very-low-potency partial agonist of the human trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) ( = 5,980nM; = 106%).
In animals, 4-MPEA produced catalepsy, catatonia, a hypokinetic rigid syndrome, and indirect sympathomimetic effects, among other effects.
The drug is metabolized by monoamine oxidase (MAO), specifically monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). It is thought to be rapidly metabolized by MAO such that it is rendered inactive.
History
4-MPEA was first described in the scientific literature by at least 1931. It was included as an entry in Alexander Shulgin's 2011 book The Shulgin Index, Volume One: Psychedelic Phenethylamines and Related Compounds.
See also Substituted methoxyphenethylamine Methoxyphenethylamine para-Methoxyamphetamine (PMA)
References
External links 4-MPEA 4-Methoxyphenethylamine - Trout's Notes