Low striatal serotonin transporter protein in a human polydrug MDMA (ecstasy) user: a case study
Journal of Psychopharmacology October 2, 2008 Sj Kish, Paul S. Fitzmaurice, Lj Chang et al. 31 citations
A post-mortem analysis of a high-dose MDMA user's brain found that protein levels of the serotonin transporter (SERT) were markedly reduced in the striatum and occipital cortex (by 48–58%) and less affected in frontal and temporal cortices (by 25%), while tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the enzyme that synthesizes serotonin, was severely decreased in the caudate and putamen (by 68% and 95%, respectively). The reduction in striatal SERT protein was larger than the binding decreases typically reported in imaging studies. These results suggest high-dose MDMA exposure may cause loss of two key protein markers of serotonin neurons, possibly indicating physical damage or downregulation of neuronal components.