The Lancet
October 1, 1998
Ud Mccann, Z Szabò, Ursula Scheffel et al.
664 citations
Using positron emission tomography (PET) with a ligand that selectively binds to serotonin transporters, researchers found direct evidence of a decrease in a structural component of brain serotonin neurons in people who use MDMA (ecstasy). This suggests MDMA use may damage or reduce serotonin neurons in the living human brain.
Science
September 6, 1985
G.a. Ricaurte, Guy K. Bryan, L. Strauss et al.
367 citations
The amphetamine analog MDA, which has hallucinogenic effects, causes long-lasting reductions in serotonin levels, serotonin uptake sites, and a serotonin metabolite in rat brains. Morphological evidence suggests these changes result from degeneration of serotonin nerve terminals. These findings indicate MDA is toxic to serotonin neurons in rats and raise concerns about whether MDA and similar hallucinogenic amphetamines could cause serotonin neurotoxicity in humans.
Journal of Neuroscience
August 1, 1995
Christina Weide Fischer, George Hatzidimitriou, J Wlos et al.
269 citations
MDMA destroys serotonin axons in the brain. After injury, these axons can regrow, but the new connections are often abnormal. In rats and squirrel monkeys studied 12–18 months after MDMA exposure, some brain regions remained denervated while others became reinnervated or even hyperinnervated. Distant targets like the dorsal neocortex stayed denervated, whereas proximal targets such as the amygdala and hypothalamus recovered. Longer or more highly arborized axons had lower recovery probability. This lasting reorganization of serotonin projections may have implications for humans who use MDMA recreationally.
PsycEXTRA Dataset
January 1, 1989
G.a. Ricaurte
46 citations
MDMA's neurotoxic effects extend to primates, with monkeys far more sensitive than rats to serotonin depletion and exhibiting a steeper dose-response curve. In monkeys, damage involves both serotonergic nerve fibers and cell bodies, whereas in rats only fibers are affected. The toxic dose in monkeys (5 mg/kg) closely approaches typical human doses (1.7–2.7 mg/kg), raising concern for human neurotoxicity, especially given the narrow margin of safety suggested by the steep primate dose-response curve. Cerebrospinal fluid 5-HIAA can detect MDMA-induced serotonergic damage in primates, and ongoing studies in humans aim to clarify long-term effects on serotonergic neurons.
European Addiction Research
January 1, 2002
Julio Bobes, Pilar A. Sáiz, María Paz García‐portilla et al.
34 citations
Among young men entering compulsory military service in Asturias, Spain, between 1995 and 1999, lifetime use of MDMA was 10.9%, past-year use 7.8%, and past-month use 4.5%, ranking fifth among illicit drugs ever tried. Once MDMA was used, reuse was common: 71% of ever-users had used it in the past year, and 41% in the past month. MDMA users had more extensive drug histories than non-users. Those who used MDMA in the past year scored higher on Neuroticism and Psychoticism subscales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-A and reported greater sensation seeking.