Effects on rat sexual behaviour of acute MDMA (ecstasy) alone or in combination with loud music

The effects on sexual behaviour of acute low doses of methylendioxymethamphet- amine (MDMA) (0.3, 1, 3 mg/kg/i.p.), alone or in combination with exposure to loud music (1 h stimulation), were investigated in Wistar rats. Re- sults indicate that acute MDMA, at dose of 3 mg/kg, notably impaired copulatory behavior of sexually experienced male rats. In particular, MDMA-exposed animals exhibited a significant increase in intromission and ejacula- tion latencies as well as a significant decrease in percentage of rats displaying copulatory activity (one intromission at least). Surprisingly, one hour exposure to loud music, which per se resulted in- effective, antagonized the suppressive effect of MDMA by increasing the percent of animals dis- playing sexual activity. However, combined treat- ment of MDMA and music stimulation did not ful- ly restore normal sexual behavior as the animals reaching ejaculation still showed a marked reduc- tion of copulatory efficiency. These findings demonstrate that the systemic administration of a single low dose of MDMA, alone or in combination with loud music, which is commonly present in certain environments such as rave parties, notably impairs copulatory activity of male rats.