Adolescent MDMA exposure diminishes the physiological and neurotoxic consequences of an MDMA binge in female rats

Summary

Female Sprague-Dawley rats showed different responses to an MDMA binge compared to males. Specifically, the binge caused temperature dysregulation and reduced serotonin transporter (SERT) binding in males, but not in females that had been pretreated with MDMA. The study found that while female rats were resistant to the binge-induced SERT reductions, they did not experience the same decrease in motor activity as males did after the binge. This indicates sexual dimorphism in response to MDMA.

Study at a glance

Abstract

AbstractIntermittent MDMA pretreatment blocked the reductions in serotonin transporter (SERT) binding induced by an MDMA binge in a prior study in adolescent male rats. The objective of this investigation was to determine if the physiological, behavioral, and neurochemical responses to MDMA are sexually dimorphic. Female Sprague–Dawley rats received MDMA (10 mg/kg × 2) or Saline on every fifth day from postnatal day (PD) 35–60 and an MDMA binge (5 mg/kg × 4) on PD 67. The MDMA binge induced a pronounced temperature dysregulation in MDMA‐naïve, but not MDMA‐pretreated, groups. Similarly, MDMA‐pretreated animals were resistant to the binge‐induced SERT reductions, especially in the hippocampus. Motor activity at PD 68 was not reduced by the binge, unlike the responses found in males. These results show that female rats differ from males in their responses to an MDMA binge but are similar with respect to preconditioning from prior MDMA exposure. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 924–934, 2014.