antioxidants Review Psychoactive Drugs—From Chemical Structure to Oxidative Stress Related to Dopaminergic Neurotransmission. A Review George Jîtcă 1, Bianca E. Osz˝ 1,*, Amelia Tero-Vescan 2 and Camil E. Vari 1 1 Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mures, , 540142 Târgu Mures, , Romania;
[email protected] (G.J.);
[email protected] (C.E.V.) 2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mures, , 540142 Târgu Mures, , Romania;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Nowadays, more and more young people want to experience illegal, psychoactive sub- stances, without knowing the risks of exposure. Besides affecting social life, psychoactive substances also have an important effect on consumer health. We summarized and analyzed the published literature data with reference to the mechanism of free radical generation and the link between chem- ical structure and oxidative stress related to dopaminergic neurotransmission. This review presents data on the physicochemical properties, on the ability to cross the blood brain barrier, the chemical structure activity relationship (SAR), and possible mechanisms by which neuronal injuries occur due to oxidative stress as a result of drug abuse such as “bath salts”, amphetamines, or cocaine. The mech- anisms of action of ingested compounds or their metabolites involve intermediate steps in which free radicals are generated. The brain is strongly affected by the consumption of such substances, Citation: Jîtc˘a,G.; Osz,˝ B.E.; Tero-Vescan, A.; Vari, C.E.