Withania somnifera influences MDMA-induced hyperthermic, cognitive, neurotoxic and neuroinflammatory effects in mice.
Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie May 1, 2023 Giulia Costa, Marcello Serra, Riccardo Maccioni et al. 13 citations
A standardized extract of Withania somnifera (ashwagandha), when given acutely alongside MDMA (ecstasy), protects mice from the drug's harmful effects on the brain, body temperature, and memory. MDMA alone caused degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons, inflammation (gliosis), a rise in body temperature, and impaired performance on a novel object recognition task. These effects were not prevented by pretreating mice with the extract for three days before MDMA. However, when the extract was given together with MDMA, it counteracted the loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, reduced gliosis in the striatum, normalized body temperature, and restored memory performance to levels similar to those of saline-treated controls.