5-Methoxy-6-methyl-2-aminoindane (MMAI), is a 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...

 developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols

David E. Nichols

David E. Nichols is an American pharmacologist and medicinal chemist.Presently the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University, Nichols has worked in the field of psychoactive drugs since 1969...

 at Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

. It acts as a non-neurotoxic and highly selective

Binding selectivity

Binding selectivity refers to the differing affinities with which different ligands bind to a substrate forming a complex. A selectivity coefficient is the equilibrium constant for the reaction of displacement by one ligand of another ligand in a complex with the substrate...

 serotonin releasing agent

Selective serotonin releasing agent

A selective serotonin releasing agent is a type of drug which selectively induces the release of serotonin from the pre-synaptic neuron into the synapse...

 (SSRA) and produces entactogen

Empathogen-entactogen

The terms empathogen and entactogen are used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA. Putative members of this class include 2C-B, 2C-I, MDMA, MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2, among others...

 effects in humans. It has been sold as a designer drug

Designer drug

Designer drug is a term used to describe drugs that are created to get around existing drug laws, usually by preparing analogs or derivatives of existing drugs by modifying their chemical structure to varying degrees, or less commonly by finding drugs with entirely different chemical structures...

 and research chemical online since 2010.

MMAI has been shown to relieve stress-induced depression

Depression (mood)

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...

 in rats more robustly than sertraline

Sertraline

Sertraline hydrochloride is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. It was introduced to the market by Pfizer in 1991. Sertraline is primarily used to treat major depression in adult outpatients as well as obsessive–compulsive, panic, and social anxiety disorders in...

, and as a result it has been suggested that SSRAs like MMAI and 4-MTA

4-MTA

4-Methylthioamphetamine is an illicit drug and research chemical developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It acts as a non-neurotoxic highly selective serotonin releasing agent in animals...

 could be developed as novel antidepressant

Antidepressant

An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. According to Gelder, Mayou &*Geddes people with a depressive illness will experience a therapeutic effect to their mood;...

s with a faster onset of therapeutic action and superior efficacy to current antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Selective serotonin re-uptake 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. The efficacy of SSRIs is disputed...

s (SSRIs). Additionally it may relieve symptoms for up to one year, or an entire lifetime of the user.

See also

• 2-Aminoindane
  2-Aminoindane
  2-Aminoindane is a psychoactive drug and research chemical with stimulant properties. It is a rigid analogue of amphetamine and partially substitutes for it in rat discrimination tests.-Chemical Derivatives:...
  
  
• 5-IAI
  5-Iodo-2-aminoindane
  5-Iodo-2-aminoindane is a drug which acts as a releasing agent of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. It was developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. 5-IAI fully substitutes for MDMA in rodents and is a putative entactogen in humans...
  
  
• AMMI
  1-Aminomethyl-5-methoxyindane
  1-Aminomethyl-5-methoxyindane , is a drug developed by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University, which acts as a selective serotonin releasing agent and binds to the serotonin transporter with similar affinity to DFMDA....
  
  
• MDAI
  5,6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane
  5,6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane is a drug developed in the 1990s by a team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It acts as a non-neurotoxic and highly selective serotonin releasing agent in vitro and produces entactogen effects in humans.- Chemistry :The chemical structure of MDAI is...
  
  
• MDAT