Octodrine: New Questions and Challenges in Sport Supplements

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Octodrine: New Questions and Challenges in Sport Supplements by Valeria Catalani 1,2,Mariya Prilutskaya 3ORCID,Ahmed Al-Imam 4ORCID,Shanna Marrinan 5ORCID,Yasmine Elgharably 6ORCID,Mire Zloh 2ORCID,Giovanni Martinotti 7,Robert Chilcott 1,2 andOrnella Corazza 2,*ORCID 1 Research Centre for Topical Drug Delivery and Toxicology, University of Hertfordshire, Herts SP9 11FA, UK 2 Department of Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Clinical Science, University of Hertfordshire, Herts AL10 9AB, UK 3 Semey State Medical University, Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Mental Health, Pavlodar 140002, Kazakhstan 4 Faculty of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad 10071, Iraq 5 Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0AA, UK 6 Navy General Hospital, Cardiovascular department, Alexandria 21513, Egypt 7 Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G.d’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Brain Sci. 2018, 8(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8020034 Submission received: 31 January 2018 / Revised: 16 February 2018 / Accepted: 17 February 2018 / Published: 20 February 2018 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Changes in Drug Abuse Scenario: The Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Phenomenon) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract Background: Octodrine is the trade name for Dimethylhexylamine (DMHA), a central nervous stimulant that increases the uptake of dopamine and noradrenaline. Originally developed as a nasal decongestant in the 1950’s, it has recently been re-introduced on the market as a pre-workout and ‘fat-burner’ product but its use remains unregulated. Our work provides the first observational cross-sectional analytic study on Octodrine as a new drug trend and its associated harms after a gap spanning seven decades. Methods: A comprehensive multilingual assessment of literature, websites, drug fora and other online resources was carried out with no time restriction in English, German, Russian and Arabic. Keywords included Octodrine’s synonyms and chemical isomers. Results: Only five relevant publications emerged from the literature search, with most of the available data on body building websites and fora. Since 2015, Octodrine has been advertised online as “the next big thing” and “the god of stimulants,” with captivating marketing strategies directed at athletes and a wider cohort of users. Reported side-effects include hypertension, dyspnoea and hyperthermia. Conclusions: The uncontrolled use of Octodrine, its physiological and psychoactive effects raise serious health implications with possible impact on athletes and doping practices. This new phenomenon needs to be thoroughly studied and monitored.

Background: Octodrine is the trade name for Dimethylhexylamine (DMHA), a central nervous stimulant that increases the uptake of dopamine and noradrenaline. Originally developed as a nasal decongestant in the 1950’s, it has recently been re‐introduced on the market as a preworkout and ‘fat‐burner’ product but its use remains unregulated. Our work provides the first observational cross‐sectional analytic study on Octodrine as a new drug trend and its associated harms after a gap spanning seven decades. Methods: A comprehensive multilingual assessment of literature, websites, drug fora and other online resources was carried out with no time restriction in English, German, Russian and Arabic. Keywords included Octodrine’s synonyms and chemical isomers. Results: Only five relevant publications emerged from the literature search, with most of the available data on body building websites and fora. Since 2015, Octodrine has been advertised online as “the next big thing” and “the god of stimulants,” with captivating marketing strategies directed at athletes and a wider cohort of users. Reported side‐effects include hypertension, dyspnoea and hyperthermia. Conclusions: The uncontrolled use of Octodrine, its physiological and psychoactive effects raise serious health implications with possible impact on athletes and doping practices. This new phenomenon needs to be thoroughly studied and monitored.