Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China; Department of Pain Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China; Guizhou Key Laboratory of Anesthesia and Organ Protection, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China. Electronic address: yuanjie@zmu.edu.cn.
3 papers in the library · 616 citations · publishing 1998-2002
MDMA, or 'Ecstasy', is a potent and selective neurotoxin for brain serotonin neurons in animals, as shown by neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and functional measures. New data indicate that MDMA reduces levels of the type 2 vesicular monoamine transporter, further supporting its serotonin neurotoxic potential. Using interspecies scaling, the authors demonstrate that dosages of MDMA known to be neurotoxic in animals fall squarely within the range used by recreational human users, countering the argument that animal dosages are too high to be relevant.
The recreational drug MDMA (ecstasy) is widely believed to selectively damage serotonin neurons in animals and possibly humans. However, nonhuman primates given several sequential doses of MDMA—a pattern similar to human use—developed severe damage to brain dopamine neurons, along with milder serotonin damage. This dopamine loss was linked to increased vulnerability to movement problems. The findings suggest that recreational MDMA users may unknowingly risk developing neuropsychiatric disorders related to dopamine or serotonin deficiency, either as young adults or later in life.
A single baboon treated with MDMA (5 mg/kg twice daily for four days) showed large decreases in serotonin transporter binding in all brain regions when scanned with PET and a serotonin-specific tracer 13 to 40 days later. Reductions ranged from 44% in the pons to 89% in the occipital cortex. Tracers for dopamine transporters showed no changes. At 9 and 13 months, some brain regions partly recovered serotonin transporter levels while others, such as the neocortex, remained persistently low. These findings demonstrate that PET can detect MDMA-induced damage to serotonin neurons in living primates and suggest the method could be used to test whether human MDMA users experience similar neurotoxicity.