Effect of depleting vesicular and cytoplasmic dopamine on methylenedioxymethamphetamine neurotoxicity
by
Yuan J, Cord BJ, McCann UD, Callahan BT, Ricaurte GA.
Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA.
J Neurochem 2002 Mar;80(6):960-9

ABSTRACT

The mechanism by which 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxicity is unknown but considerable evidence suggests that endogenous brain dopamine (DA) is involved. However, it has recently become apparent that some of the data implicating brain DA in MDMA neurotoxicity may be confounded by drug effects on thermoregulation. The purpose of the present studies was to examine the role of DA in MDMA neurotoxicity, while controlling for possible confounding effects of drug- induced changes in core temperature. Rats were treated with reserpine, alone and in combination with alpha-methyl-p -tyrosine (AMPT), to deplete vesicular and cytoplasmic stores of DA. When drug-induced hypothermia was averted (by raising ambient temperature), the 5-HT neuroprotective effects of reserpine and AMPT were no longer apparent. The lack of neuroprotection by AMPT and reserpine, alone and in combination, in studies that control for the effects of these drugs on core temperature, suggests that DA per se is not essential for the expression of MDMA-induced 5-HT neurotoxicity.

History
Abstinence
MDMA/MDE
Brain-damage?
Protect and survive
L-deprenyl and ecstasy
Ecstasy and tryptophan
Ecstasy and serotonin synthesis
Serotonin/dopamine interactions
MDMA neurotoxicity : the role of MAO-b
MDMA-induced toxicity and the dopamine transporter

Refs
and further reading

HOME
HedWeb
Nootropics
cocaine.wiki
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
MDMA/Ecstasy
Superhapiness?
Utopian Surgery?
The Abolitionist Project
The Hedonistic Imperative
The Reproductive Revolution
Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family