Deaths related to the use of diarylethylamines, with a focus on the United Kingdom: A systematic review and case series report
Abstract
Background: Diarylethylamine drugs possess dissociative properties. These emerged as drugs of misuse, with reports of strong addictive potential, high tolerance and compulsive intake.
Aims: Since one of these drugs, diphenidine, was added to the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the United Kingdom (UK) had to consider its control. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs 2023 advice included toxicity and mortality involving this and related molecules. Relevant mortality data were collated to understand the international and UK situations.
Methods: A systematic review was employed: PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar searches were conducted on 29/30 August 2022 using the terms 'overdose', 'death', 'fatal*', 'toxic*', 'poison*' with molecules' chemical names. UK Mortality Registers (MRs) provided statistical data. The Scottish MR and National Programme on Substance Use Mortality provided case-level information.
Results: Eleven studies were identified. Most decedents were male. The mean death age was 35.3 (range: 17-55) years. Death was commonly from polysubstance poisoning. Globally, 48 deaths involved these drugs (Europe n = 40). Of these, 37 occurred in the UK in 2014-2019. Key characteristics were as follows: male (91%); White (95%), mean age 37.2 (range: 19-65) years; drug use history (72%). Most deaths (89%) were accidental from acute drug toxicity (92%). Diphenidine/methoxyphenidine (MXP) was implicated with other substances (opioids/opiates, benzodiazepines,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 40 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Prediction of the In Vitro Release Curves for PLGA-Based Drug Delivery Systems with Neural Networks
- Promising Ursolic Acid as a Novel Antituberculosis Agent: Current Progress and Challenges
- Proof of principle concept for the analysis and functional prediction of rare genetic variants in the CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 genes
- Fabrication, characterization, and docking studies of furosemide-loaded nanosponges using the emulsion solvent diffusion method
- The Effect of Concomitant Administration of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the Pharmacokinetics of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Rats: Implications for the Evaluation of Hepatic and Transporter-Mediated Drug–Drug Interactions
- Mining the Metabolic Capacity of Clostridium sporogenes Aided by Machine Learning
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.