Fencamfamin: uses and side effects of this psychotropic drug

Fencamfamin is a stimulant psychopharmaceutical used mainly in patients with asthenia and fatigue.

Over the last decades, the pharmaceutical industry has developed and marketed a multitude of stimulant drugs that were originally designed to treat problems such as fatigue and tiredness, appetite suppression or lack of concentration.

However, over time some drugs have generated problems of abuse and dependence, and have been withdrawn or banned in certain areas. This is the case of fencamfamin, a drug with stimulant properties that is currently part of a list of drugs banned in sports.

We will now discuss the properties and clinical uses of fencamfaminThe mechanism of action, adverse reactions and contraindications, as well as their effects on the psychological mechanism of latent inhibition.

Phencamfamin: description and clinical uses

Fencamfamin is a drug with mild stimulant effects on the central nervous system.. It was developed by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in the 1960s as a drug indicated for appetite suppression, although it was later withdrawn because of dependence and abuse problems. Its effects are about half as potent as those of dextroamphetamine.

Fencamfamin has been used to treat daytime fatigue, lack of concentration and lethargy, and is especially useful in patients with chronic conditions due to its favorable safety profile. The drug was marketed under the name "Reactivan" and "Glucoenergan", and in its early days was quite popular in the field of sports, specifically among athletes and runners, as its invigorating effects were in great demand in the locker rooms of many teams and athletes.

This stimulant drug has been attributed a significant abuse potential, due to its psychoactive reinforcing effects and its mechanism of action, since it acts on dopaminergic receptors and the reward system. In this regard, one of the best-known cases involving the abuse of this substance was that which occurred in the 1978 Soccer World Cup, held in Argentina, in which the soccer player Willie Johnston tested positive for fencamfamin when he underwent an anti-doping control.

This substance is still included today on the list of substances banned in sport under the category of specific stimulants. Today, fencamfamin is still marketed in some countries and is still prescribed as a stimulant drug in patients with fatigue and asthenia. in patients suffering from fatigue and asthenia.. In addition, its therapeutic effects in narcolepsy are still being investigated.

Mechanism of action

Fencamfamin acts as an indirect dopamine agonist drug.. The mechanism of action of this drug involves the release of this neurotransmitter by a procedure similar to that caused by amphetamines, although the main mechanism is the inhibition of dopamine reuptake.

In addition, unlike amphetamines, fencamfamin does not inhibit the action of the enzyme monoamine oxidase, which is involved in the elimination of dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, allowing more neurotransmitters to be available at the synapses to exert pharmacological effects. This allows more neurotransmitters to be available at the synapses to exert pharmacological effects on the target receptors. on the target receptors. In fact, studies have shown that the in vitro profile of fencamfamin is more similar to that of nomifensine, a drug that inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and noradrenaline, than to that of d-amphetamine.

In animal research on place preference conditioning (a model used to study the motivational properties of certain psychoactive substances), it has been observed that fencamfamine significant place preference only at a particular dose (around 3.5 mg/kg). (around 3.5 mg/kg).

In addition, experiments suggest that this drug could act on dopamine D1 receptors, and also on opioid receptors, since site preference is blocked by a selective dopamine D1 antagonist (SCH-23390) and by an opioid antagonist (naloxone).

Adverse reactions and contraindications

The behavioral effects of stimulants are very similar to each other and include increased Blood Pressure and respiratory rate, and increased heart rate. However, fencamfamin is fairly well tolerated and does not produce significant circulatory effectsalthough prolonged use may cause dry mouth.

It should be noted that this drug should not be used if you have heart disease, angina pectoris, decompensated heart failure, glaucoma, hyperexcitability, thyrotoxicosis or while being treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitor drugs (MAOIs).

On the other hand, excessive use of fencamfamin or overdose may result in symptoms such as the following:

• Agitation
• Dry mouth
• Restlessness
• Dizziness
• Tremors
• Dyspnea
• Tachycardia
• Disorientation
• Seizures

Effects of fencamfamin on latent inhibition

Latent inhibition is a psychological mechanism that people develop that allows us to filter out stimuli in our environment that we perceive as irrelevant based on our particular experience. This ability to "separate the wheat from the chaff", or in other words, to grasp only the information that is really relevant and necessary in a given situation, greatly facilitates our day-to-day functioning.

But not all individuals are able to inhibit irrelevant stimuli with the same efficiency. People with low latent inhibition are incapable of abstracting from a large amount of unnecessary stimuli that produce a volume of information that produce a volume of information that exceeds their cognitive resources, generating high levels of stress and frustration.

Studies in this regard show that fencamfamin blocks the latent inhibition effect at doses of 3.5 mg/kg. A latent inhibition effect that, according to research, could be mediated by the mesolimbic dopaminergic system. This makes sense since, as mentioned above, fencamfamin acts by inhibiting the reuptake of dopamine, causing an increase in the levels of this neurotransmitter in the nucleus accumbens and striatum.

On the other hand, it has been shown that at higher doses (around 7 mg/kg) fencamfamin does not produce the blockade of latent inhibition. And since this drug stereotypic behaviors at high dosesit is possible that the unconditioned stereotyped responses generated by these doses interfere with the behavioral processes occurring in the conditioning phase of latent inhibition.

Bibliographical references:

• Aizenstein, M. L., Segal, D. S., & Kuczenski, R. (1990). Repeated amphetamine and fencamfamine: Sensitization and reciprocal cross-sensitization. Neuropsychopharmacology.
• Alves, C. R., Delucia, R., & Silva, M. T. A. (2002). Effects of fencamfamine on latent inhibition. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 26(6), 1089-1093.
• Gorenstein, C., DeLucia, R., & Gentil, V. (1988). Psychostimulant effects of fencamfamine in healthy volunteers. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 21(3), 475-477.