Abstract: The activity of tryptophan hydroxylase (EC 1.14.16.4) from rat brain was significantly decreased 1 h following a single systemic injection of 3,4‐methylenedioxy‐methamphetamine (MDMA) when assessed ex vivo by ra‐dioenzymatic assay or in vivo by the quantitation of 5‐hy‐droxytryptophan accumulation following central L‐aromatic amino acid decarboxylase inhibition. Recovery of enzymatic...
Similar to other amphetamine analogs 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy"), a currently popular illicit drug, has been characterized recently as a serotonergic neurotoxin due to its ability to cause long-lasting deficits in markers of central serotonergic function in animals. Because the serotonergic toxicity associated with the MDMA analog methamphetamine has been linked...
In the rat, administration of the psychoactive analog of amphetamine 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), causes selective, pronounced decreases in markers of central serotonergic function. The time course of these neurochemical changes was examined in several serotonergic nerve terminal regions of the brain. Fifteen min after subcutaneous injection of MDMA (10 mg/kg), the enzymatic...