Alzet 2001 osmotic minipumps

In this study, 20 male Dark Agouti rats (Harlan, Olac Ltd, Shaw's Farm, Blackthorn, Bicester, Oxon, UK, aged: 8 weeks, weighing 158±4 g [mean ± S.E.M.) were used. The animal experiments and housing conditions were carried out in accordance with the European Community Council Directive of 24 November 1986 (86/609/EEC), as well as the National Institutes of Health Principles of Laboratory Animal Care (NIH Publication 85-23, revised 1985) and special national laws (the Hungarian Governmental Regulation on animal studies, 31 December 1998 Act). The experiments were approved by the National Scientific Ethical Committee on Animal Experimentation and permitted by the Food Chain Safety and Animal Health Directorate of the Central Agricultural Office, Hungary (permission number: 22.1/3152/001/2007).
Prior to implantation, Alzet 2001 osmotic minipumps (Durect Corp., CA, USA) were filled with VLX dissolved in 0.9% NaCl solution.

(±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Sanofi-Synthelabo-Chinoin, Hungary, purity > 99.5%) was dissolved in 0.9% NaCl (SAL) at an equivalent dose of 15 mg/kg free base and was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) in a volume of 1 ml/kg. The dose of MDMA was selected based on the interspecies scaling ${\mathrm{D}}_{\text{human}}={\mathrm{D}}_{\text{animal}}{\left(\frac{{\mathrm{W}}_{\text{human}}}{{\mathrm{W}}_{\text{animal}}}\right)}^{0.7}$ , where D are doses in mg and W are weights in kg [81 ]. By using W_animal = 0.152 kg, D_animal = 15 mg/kg * 0.152 kg, and W_human = 70 kg, our administration protocol results in a dose of 166.8 mg human dose [81 ] that is in a similar range as in a recent clinical study (187.5 mg) on MDMA’s therapeutic effects [25 (link)] and can be found in purer MDMA tablets for recreational use [2 (link), 82 (link)].
For control animals SAL was used i.p. in equivalent volumes (1 ml/kg). The MDMA-treated and control groups consisted of 11 and 10 animals, respectively, and were randomly assigned to each group. Vehicle-containing Alzet 2001 osmotic minipumps (Durect Corp., CA, USA) were inserted under the skin for all animals. The rats were sacrificed 3 weeks after the injections.