Persistent MDMA‐induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity in the striatum and substantia nigra of mice
Journal of Neurochemistry September 24, 2008 Noelia Granado, Esther O’shea, Jordi Bové et al. 112 citations
Repeated doses of MDMA (ecstasy) given to mice cause a lasting loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, a brain region critical for movement. One day after injection, the number of these neurons drops and remains low for at least 30 days. In the striatum, markers of dopamine function also fall sharply within a day and stay reduced for a month, though some recovery begins after three days, with new nerve fiber growth. Damage is selective: the nucleus accumbens is unaffected, showing MDMA destroys the nigrostriatal pathway but spares the mesolimbic pathway. Immune cell activation follows the same pattern, confirming the link between inflammation and dopamine cell death.