Welcome to the MAPS MDMA Literature Review Update site. As part of MAPS' efforts to develop MDMA into a prescription medicine as an adjunct to psychotherapy, MAPS sponsored a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on MDMA. This comprehensive review was submitted to FDA in October 2001, along with the MDMA/PTSD protocol which FDA subsequently approved. MAPS also sponsored the MDMA Literature Review Update #1: 1/20/03, which was submitted to the IRB reviewing the MDMA/PTSD protocol. MAPS sponsored a second update of the MDMA literature that was submitted to the IRB reviewing the MDMA / cancer anxiety study. This update is available in PDF and HTML format. There is now a third update of the literature from March, 2004 to January 2004, available in PDF and HTML format.

Please note that most reviews and summaries written for papers located after July, 2003, will no longer be stored in this location. New summaries and reviews of papers can be found in the MAPS Bibliography, with all new items findable through "What's New", a new feature of the bibliography.

These updates of publications appearing after the comprehensive review was completed are intended to keep the literature review current by providing summaries of all papers that discuss MDMA or ecstasy, with a focus on human clinical trials and studies in ecstasy users. All updates include summaries of original research and reviews of studies conducted in humans, in vitro and in non-human animals published in English-language peer-reviewed journals. All updates appearing after August 2002 also examine human medical case reports. Forensic and chemistry research is not addressed, but such papers will be noted in overviews appearing after August 2002. Further information about these papers can be found in the MAPS MDMA Bibliography. You can check out new citations, reviews and summaries at www.maps.org/sys/w3pbu.pl.

We welcome any comments or suggestions you might have about the MDMA literature updates. We are interested in what you find most and least helpful about this site, suggestions for improving content or site format, and any indications of how you use this site. Send comments to Ilsa@maps.org. Any input is greatly appreciated.

  Read about new MDMA research presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), June 2003.