# Bath Salts: abuse-related and toxic effects

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2021 · $359,175

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 “Designer drugs” burst onto the United States (US) recreational drug market in early 2009. By 2011, “bath salts,”
which are most often mixtures of synthetic cathinones and other drugs such as caffeine, were linked to numerous press
reports of bizarre and violent behavior, and accounted for well over 20,000 emergency room visits. Over the nearly 10
years since their introduction, the number of synthetic cathinones available for use has grown from 3 (MDPV,
methylone, and mephedrone) to over 140. Based on work from our lab and others, we now know that the reinforcing
effects of cathinones exist on a continuum, with drugs such as methylone functioning as relatively modest reinforcers
(cocaine>methylone), and drugs such as MDPV, and α-PVP functioning as exceptionally powerful reinforcers capable of
maintaining significantly greater levels of responding than either cocaine or methamphetamine. In addition evidence to
show that the reinforcing effectiveness of cocaine and synthetic cathinones, such as MDPV and α-PVP, is directly related
to their selectivity for DAT over SERT, our laboratory has also shown that these reinforcing (and toxic) effects can be
synergistically enhanced when drugs such as MDPV and methylone are administered in combination with other “bath
salts” constituents, such as caffeine.
 In the last 5 years, we have learned a great deal about the pharmacology and abuse-related effects of synthetic
cathinones; however, over this same time the synthetic drug market and the landscape of recreational drug use more
broadly have changed dramatically. In 2013, heroin began to supplant prescription opioids as opioid users’ drug of
choice; by 2014, synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, had flooded the market. These changes coincided with a doubling of
the incidence of opioid-related deaths, from ~25,000 in 2013 to >47,000 in 2017, over half of which (~28,000) were
linked to synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. Over this same time, overdose deaths related to stimulants (e.g., cocaine,
methamphetamine and synthetic cathinones), have more than doubled over the same time from fewer than 10,000 in
2013, to over 24,000 in 2017. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly clear that these two phenomena are not occurring in
isolation, with ~50% of opioid-related deaths involving stimulants, and ~50% of stimulant-related deaths also involving
opioids. Thus, the US is in the midst of a polysubstance abuse epidemic, the effects of which are increasing at an
exponential rate. This research project aims to 1) determine the impact of self-administration of α-PVP during
adolescence on the development of compulsive drug taking and vulnerability to opioid abuse later in life; 2) characterize
the interactions between the abuse-related and toxic effects of stimulants and opioids; and 3) examine the degree to
which opioid dependence and withdrawal impact the nature of the interactions between the abuse-related and toxic
effects of mixtures of stimul...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10162572
- **Project number:** 5R01DA039146-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory Thomas Collins
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $359,175
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2015-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10162572

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10162572, Bath Salts: abuse-related and toxic effects (5R01DA039146-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10162572. Licensed CC0.

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