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Dopamine reuptake inhibitor

Dopamine reuptake inhibitor

Overview
A dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI, DARI) is a type of drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

 which acts as a reuptake inhibitor
Reuptake inhibitor
A reuptake inhibitor , also known as a transporter blocker, is a drug which inhibits the plasmalemmal transporter-mediated reuptake of a neurotransmitter from the synapse into the pre-synaptic neuron, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter and therefore...

 for the neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals which relay, amplify, and modulate signals between a neuron and another cell. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles that cluster beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they...

 dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter occurring in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five types of dopamine receptors — D1, D2, D3, D4, and...

 by blocking the action
Drug action
The action of drugs on the human body is called pharmacodynamics, and what the body does with the drug is called pharmacokinetics. The drugs that enter the human tend to stimulate certain receptors, ion channels, act on enzymes or transporter proteins...

 of the dopamine transporter
Dopamine transporter
The dopamine transporter is a membrane-spanning protein that binds the neurotransmitter dopamine; DAT provides the primary mechanism through which dopamine is cleared from synapses, transporting dopamine from the synapse into a neuron...

 (DAT). This in turn leads to increased extracellular
Extracellular
In cell biology, molecular biology and related fields, the word extracellular means "outside the cell". This space is usually taken to be outside the plasma membranes, and occupied by fluid...

 concentration
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent.To...

s of dopamine and therefore an increase in dopaminergic
Dopaminergic
Dopaminergic means related to the neurotransmitter dopamine. For example, certain proteins such as the dopamine transporter , vesicular monoamine transporter 2 , and dopamine receptors can be classified as dopaminergic, and neurons which synthesize or contain dopamine and synapses with dopamine...

 neurotransmission
Neurotransmission
Neurotransmission , also called synaptic transmission, is an electrical movement within synapses caused by a propagation of nerve impulses...

.

DRIs may be used in the clinical treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder. ADHD is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone." While symptoms may appear to be innocent and merely annoying...

 (ADHD), narcolepsy
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia. The condition is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school...

, and fatigue
Fatigue
Fatigue may refer to:*Fatigue - medical aspects of tiredness in humans**Chronic fatigue syndrome - an illness of the central nervous system*Fatigue - failure by repeated stress in materials...

 or lethargy as stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants, also sometimes called psychostimulants, are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...

s, obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...

 as anorectic
Anorectic
An anorectic or anorexic , also known as anorexigenic or appetite suppressant, is a dietary supplements and/or drug which reduces appetite, food consumption, and as a result, causes weight loss to occur.-List of Anorectics:Numerous pharmaceutical compounds are marketed as appetite suppressants.The...

s or appetite suppressants for weight loss
Weight loss
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...

 purposes, as well as mood disorder
Mood disorder
A mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classification system where a disturbance in the person's mood is hypothesized to be the main underlying feature...

s such as major depressive disorder (MDD) usually of the treatment-resistant or atypical
Atypical depression
Atypical depression is a subtype of dysthymia and major depression characterized by mood reactivity — being able to experience improved mood in response to positive events. In contrast, sufferers of "melancholic" depression generally cannot experience positive moods, even when good things happen...

 variants as antidepressant
Antidepressant
An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia. Drugs including the monoamine oxidase inhibitors , tricyclic antidepressants , tetracyclic antidepressants , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , and serotonin-norepinephrine...

s, social phobia
Social phobia
Social phobia may refer to any of the following conditions:* Social anxiety - the experience of anxiety regarding social situations, interactions with others or being evaluated or scrutinized by other people* Social anxiety disorder - a diagnosis within the mental health professions referring to...

 (SP) or social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder , also known as social anxiety or social phobia is a diagnosis within psychiatry and other mental health professions referring to excessive social anxiety causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some areas of daily life...

 (SAD) and perhaps other anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fears and anxieties which only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the very end of the 19th century. Current psychiatric diagnostic criteria recognize a wide variety of anxiety disorders...

s as anxiolytic
Anxiolytic
An anxiolytic is a drug used for the treatment of symptoms of anxiety. Anxiolytics have been shown to be useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, as have antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors .Though not anxiolytics, beta-receptor blockers such as propranolol and...

s, parkinsonism
Parkinsonism
Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous, and diagnosis can be complex...

 such as that seen in Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills, speech, and other functions....

 as antiparkinsonian agents, drug addiction
Drug addiction
Drug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...

 and/or dependence
Physical dependence
Physical dependence refers to a state resulting from chronic use of a drug that has produced tolerance and where negative physical symptoms of withdrawal result from abrupt discontinuation or dosage reduction. Physical dependence can develop from low-dose therapeutic use of certain medications as...

 as anticraving agents, and both as augmentation
Augmentation (psychiatry)
Augmentation is the combination of two or more drugs to achieve better treatment results....

s and to offset some of the side effects of other drugs like the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor are a class of compounds typically used as antidepressants in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, and some personality disorders...

s (SSRIs) such as sexual dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction or sexual malfunction refers to a difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of a normal sexual activity, including desire, arousal or orgasm.-Categories:...

.

DRIs can induce a wide range of psychological and physiological effects, including the following:
It should be noted, however, that many of these properties are dependent on whether the DRI in question is capable of crossing the blood-brain-barrier (BBB).
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Encyclopedia
A dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI, DARI) is a type of drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

 which acts as a reuptake inhibitor
Reuptake inhibitor
A reuptake inhibitor , also known as a transporter blocker, is a drug which inhibits the plasmalemmal transporter-mediated reuptake of a neurotransmitter from the synapse into the pre-synaptic neuron, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter and therefore...

 for the neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals which relay, amplify, and modulate signals between a neuron and another cell. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles that cluster beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they...

 dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter occurring in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five types of dopamine receptors — D1, D2, D3, D4, and...

 by blocking the action
Drug action
The action of drugs on the human body is called pharmacodynamics, and what the body does with the drug is called pharmacokinetics. The drugs that enter the human tend to stimulate certain receptors, ion channels, act on enzymes or transporter proteins...

 of the dopamine transporter
Dopamine transporter
The dopamine transporter is a membrane-spanning protein that binds the neurotransmitter dopamine; DAT provides the primary mechanism through which dopamine is cleared from synapses, transporting dopamine from the synapse into a neuron...

 (DAT). This in turn leads to increased extracellular
Extracellular
In cell biology, molecular biology and related fields, the word extracellular means "outside the cell". This space is usually taken to be outside the plasma membranes, and occupied by fluid...

 concentration
Concentration
In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent.To...

s of dopamine and therefore an increase in dopaminergic
Dopaminergic
Dopaminergic means related to the neurotransmitter dopamine. For example, certain proteins such as the dopamine transporter , vesicular monoamine transporter 2 , and dopamine receptors can be classified as dopaminergic, and neurons which synthesize or contain dopamine and synapses with dopamine...

 neurotransmission
Neurotransmission
Neurotransmission , also called synaptic transmission, is an electrical movement within synapses caused by a propagation of nerve impulses...

.

Indications


DRIs may be used in the clinical treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder. ADHD is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone." While symptoms may appear to be innocent and merely annoying...

 (ADHD), narcolepsy
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia. The condition is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school...

, and fatigue
Fatigue
Fatigue may refer to:*Fatigue - medical aspects of tiredness in humans**Chronic fatigue syndrome - an illness of the central nervous system*Fatigue - failure by repeated stress in materials...

 or lethargy as stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants, also sometimes called psychostimulants, are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...

s, obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...

 as anorectic
Anorectic
An anorectic or anorexic , also known as anorexigenic or appetite suppressant, is a dietary supplements and/or drug which reduces appetite, food consumption, and as a result, causes weight loss to occur.-List of Anorectics:Numerous pharmaceutical compounds are marketed as appetite suppressants.The...

s or appetite suppressants for weight loss
Weight loss
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...

 purposes, as well as mood disorder
Mood disorder
A mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classification system where a disturbance in the person's mood is hypothesized to be the main underlying feature...

s such as major depressive disorder (MDD) usually of the treatment-resistant or atypical
Atypical depression
Atypical depression is a subtype of dysthymia and major depression characterized by mood reactivity — being able to experience improved mood in response to positive events. In contrast, sufferers of "melancholic" depression generally cannot experience positive moods, even when good things happen...

 variants as antidepressant
Antidepressant
An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia. Drugs including the monoamine oxidase inhibitors , tricyclic antidepressants , tetracyclic antidepressants , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , and serotonin-norepinephrine...

s, social phobia
Social phobia
Social phobia may refer to any of the following conditions:* Social anxiety - the experience of anxiety regarding social situations, interactions with others or being evaluated or scrutinized by other people* Social anxiety disorder - a diagnosis within the mental health professions referring to...

 (SP) or social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder , also known as social anxiety or social phobia is a diagnosis within psychiatry and other mental health professions referring to excessive social anxiety causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some areas of daily life...

 (SAD) and perhaps other anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fears and anxieties which only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the very end of the 19th century. Current psychiatric diagnostic criteria recognize a wide variety of anxiety disorders...

s as anxiolytic
Anxiolytic
An anxiolytic is a drug used for the treatment of symptoms of anxiety. Anxiolytics have been shown to be useful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, as have antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors .Though not anxiolytics, beta-receptor blockers such as propranolol and...

s, parkinsonism
Parkinsonism
Parkinsonism is a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. The underlying causes of parkinsonism are numerous, and diagnosis can be complex...

 such as that seen in Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills, speech, and other functions....

 as antiparkinsonian agents, drug addiction
Drug addiction
Drug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...

 and/or dependence
Physical dependence
Physical dependence refers to a state resulting from chronic use of a drug that has produced tolerance and where negative physical symptoms of withdrawal result from abrupt discontinuation or dosage reduction. Physical dependence can develop from low-dose therapeutic use of certain medications as...

 as anticraving agents, and both as augmentation
Augmentation (psychiatry)
Augmentation is the combination of two or more drugs to achieve better treatment results....

s and to offset some of the side effects of other drugs like the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor are a class of compounds typically used as antidepressants in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, and some personality disorders...

s (SSRIs) such as sexual dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction or sexual malfunction refers to a difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of a normal sexual activity, including desire, arousal or orgasm.-Categories:...

.

General


DRIs can induce a wide range of psychological and physiological effects, including the following:
It should be noted, however, that many of these properties are dependent on whether the DRI in question is capable of crossing the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). Those that do not will only produce peripheral
Peripheral
A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer but not part of it whose primary functionality is dependent upon the host, and can therefore be considered as expanding the host's capabilities, while not forming part of the system's core architecture....

 effects.

Overdose


At very high doses and/or with chronic administration characterized by overdose, stimulant psychosis may develop, the symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...

s of which can include the following:
Additionally, potential incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in gaol or prison. People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime. Incarceration rates, when measured by the United Nations, are considered distinct and separate from the imprisonment of political prisoners and...

, hospitalization, institutionalization
Psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, sometimes known as an asylum, is a hospital specializing in the treatment of serious mental illness, usually for relatively long-term inpatients....

, and/or death
Death
Death is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical...

, on account of extreme erratic
Recklessness (psychology)
Recklessness is disregard for or indifference to the dangers of a situation or for the consequences of one's actions....

 behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment. Behavior can be conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary....

 which may include acts of crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...

, assault
Assault
Assault is a crime of violence against another person. In some jurisdictions, including Australia and New Zealand, assault refers to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, while in other jurisdictions, such as the United States, assault may refer only to the threat...

, accidental or intentional self-injury, and/or suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...

, as well as illicit
Prohibition (drugs)
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to control drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority, from the Middle Ages to the present....

 drug abuse
Drug abuse
Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgement of the drug use in question...

, may ensue under such circumstances.

Abuse


Due to their strong rewarding
Reward system
In neuroscience, the reward system is a collection of brain structures which attempts to regulate and control behavior by inducing pleasurable effects.-Psychological reward:...

 and reinforcing
Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, reinforcement occurs when an event following a response causes an increase in the probability of that response occurring in the future...

 properties, DRIs are notorious for their high abuse potential
Drug abuse
Drug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgement of the drug use in question...

 and liability to cause craving
Craving (withdrawal)
When going through withdrawal, craving is a psychological urge to administer a discontinued medication, recreational drug and/or alcohol.-Duration:The duration that cravings last after discontinuation varies substantially between different addictive drugs...

s, addiction
Drug addiction
Drug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...

, and dependence
Physical dependence
Physical dependence refers to a state resulting from chronic use of a drug that has produced tolerance and where negative physical symptoms of withdrawal result from abrupt discontinuation or dosage reduction. Physical dependence can develop from low-dose therapeutic use of certain medications as...

. Pure DRIs such as cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...

 and combination releasing agent
Releasing agent
A releasing agent , or simply releaser, is a drug which induces the release of a neurotransmitter from the pre-synaptic neuron into the synapse, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter...

s such as amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine is a psychostimulant drug that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Amphetamine is related to drugs such as methamphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are a group of potent drugs that act by increasing levels of...

 (Adderall, Dexedrine), methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine also known as metamfetamine , dextromethamphetamine, methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine) is a psychostimulant and sympathomimetic drug. Methamphetamine enters the brain and triggers a cascading release of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine...

 (Desoxyn), MDMA
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is a psychoactive amphetamine drug with entactogenic, psychedelic, and stimulant effects....

 ("Ecstasy"), and 4-methylaminorex are widely abused
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, approved medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear ....

 throughout the world
World
World is a highly common name for the planet Earth, but it was originally used to mean the sum of human civilization living on it, specifically human experience, history, or the 'human condition' in general....

. It is estimated that there are approximately six million people addicted to cocaine in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (U.S.) alone.

Notably, some DRIs have a lower abuse potential than others. Those that have a slow onset
Absorption (Pharmacokinetics)
In pharmacology , absorption is the movement of a drug into the bloodstream.Absorption involves several phases...

 and long duration
Biological half-life
The biological half-life or elimination half life of a substance is the time it takes for a substance to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity, as per the MeSH definition...

 of action
Drug action
The action of drugs on the human body is called pharmacodynamics, and what the body does with the drug is called pharmacokinetics. The drugs that enter the human tend to stimulate certain receptors, ion channels, act on enzymes or transporter proteins...

 such as bupropion
Bupropion
Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant that acts as a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor, and nicotinic antagonist...

 (Wellbutrin, Zyban) and methylphenidate
Methylphenidate
Methylphenidate is the most commonly prescribed psychostimulant and is indicated in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and narcolepsy, although off-label uses include treating lethargy, depression, neural insult, and obesity.In...

 (Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta) are typically much less reinforcing than faster acting ones which produce a rush like cocaine. In fact, bupropion is often used as a maintenance therapy
Maintenance therapy
Maintenance therapy is a medical therapy that is designed to help a primary treatment succeed. For example, maintenance chemotherapy may be given to people who have a cancer in remission in an attempt to prevent a relapse...

 for treating stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants, also sometimes called psychostimulants, are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...

 addiction
Addiction
The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction The...

. However, depending on the route of administration
Route of administration
A route of administration in pharmacology and toxicology is the path by which a drug, fluid, poison, or other substance is brought into contact with the body....

 (e.g., insufflation
Insufflation
In religious and magical practice, insufflation and exsufflation are ritual acts of blowing, breathing, hissing, or puffing that signify variously expulsion or renunciation of evil or of the devil , or infilling or blessing with good .In historical Christian practice, such blowing appears most...

, inhalation
Inhalation
Inhalation is the movement of air from the external environment, through the air ways, and into the alveoli.Inhalation begins with the onset of contraction of the diaphragm, which results in expansion of the intrapleural space and an increase in negative pressure according to Boyle's Law...

, or injection
Injection
Injection may refer to:* Injection , a method of putting liquid into the body with a syringe and a hollow needle that punctures the skin.* Injective function in mathematics, a function which associates distinct arguments to distinct values...

), the pleasurable
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or otherwise to be sought out. It thus includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...

 effects of the DRI in question can be dramatically enhanced, potentially rendering those with only mild rewarding effects to become far more reinforcing than they would be under normal circumstances.

List of DRIs


Of the above listed agents, altropane, amfonelic acid, benocyclidine, DBL-583, difluoropine, GBR-12,935, ioflupane, and vanoxerine are all highly selective, pure DRIs, with no known, significant affinity for the serotonin or norepinephrine transporters or any other sites.

Dopamine releasing agents (DRAs) such as amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine is a psychostimulant drug that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Amphetamine is related to drugs such as methamphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are a group of potent drugs that act by increasing levels of...

 and methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine also known as metamfetamine , dextromethamphetamine, methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine) is a psychostimulant and sympathomimetic drug. Methamphetamine enters the brain and triggers a cascading release of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine...

 also function as DRIs secondary to their releasing action. To distinguish between DRIs and DRAs, the latter are not included in the above list. For a list of DRAs, see the releasing agent
Releasing agent
A releasing agent , or simply releaser, is a drug which induces the release of a neurotransmitter from the pre-synaptic neuron into the synapse, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter...

article. In correspondence with the previous paragraph, notably, to date, there are no known selective DRAs, as dissociating affinity between the dopamine and norepinephrine transporters has so far proven to be virtually impossible to achieve, likely on account of the very similar structure of the respective proteins.