Effects of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on serotonin transporter and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 protein and gene expression in rats: implications for MDMA neurotoxicity
Journal of Neurochemistry November 30, 2009 Dominik K. Biezonski, Jerrold S. Meyer 47 citations
MDMA (Ecstasy) causes substantial regulatory changes in serotonergic markers in rats, questioning the need to invoke distal axotomy as an explanation for MDMA-related serotonergic deficits. In adult male Sprague-Dawley rats, MDMA treatment produced large reductions in serotonin transporter (SERT) levels across all brain regions examined, but little change in vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT-2) protein expression in the hippocampus when noradrenergic input was lesioned beforehand. MDMA also caused a striking decrease in SERT gene expression and a lesser effect on VMAT-2 in raphe tissue. These findings suggest MDMA's effects involve regulatory changes rather than just nerve terminal damage.