Journal of Neuroscience
August 1, 1995
Christina Weide Fischer, George Hatzidimitriou, J Wlos et al.
269 citations
The recreational drug (+/)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) is a methamphetamine derivative that selectively destroys central 5-HT axons and axon terminals in animals and, possibly, humans. The fate of 5-HT neurons following MDMA injury is uncertain. In particular, while it is known that central 5-HT axons can undergo regenerative sprouting after MDMA injury, it has not been...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
August 1, 1995
Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte
6 citations
Una D. McCann, MD, NIMH, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. George A. Ricaurte, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland.
Addiction
May 1, 1994
Thomas Steele, Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte
295 citations
Abstract (±)3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”), a ring‐substituted amphetamine derivative first synthesized in 1914, has emerged as a popular recreational drug of abuse over the last decade. Pharmacological studies indicate that MDMA produces a mixture of central stimulant and psychedelic effects, many of which appear to be mediated by brain monoamines, particularly serotonin...
Neuropsychopharmacology
April 1994
U D McCann, A Ridenour, Y Shaham et al.
(+/-)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy"), an increasingly popular recreational drug, is known to damage brain serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons in experimental animals. Whether MDMA is neurotoxic in humans has not been established. Thirty MDMA users and 28 controls were admitted to a controlled inpatient setting for measurement of biologic and behavioral indexes of...
Sleep
September 1, 1993
Richard P. Allen, Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte
113 citations
(+/- )3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a recreational drug of abuse which damages serotonin neurons in animals. It is not known whether MDMA is also neurotoxic in humans, and if so, whether there are functional consequences. Given the putative role of serotonin in sleep, it was hypothesized that one manifestation of serotonin neurotoxicity in humans might be disturbances of sleep. To...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
August 1, 1993
George A. Ricaurte, A L Markowska, G L Wenk et al.
The recreational drug (+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") is toxic to central serotonin (5-HT) neurons, but few long-term functional consequences of MDMA neurotoxicity have been identified. Because 5-HT has been implicated in learning and memory, the present study was undertaken to examine whether MDMA, by damaging 5-HT neurons, altered mnemonic function on a long-term...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
March 1, 1993
C R Scanzello, George Hatzidimitriou, A L Martello et al.
(+/-)-3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a recreational drug of abuse which damages serotonin (5-HT) neurons in animals. In monkeys, the damage appears to be permanent. By contrast, in rats there is indication that neuronal recovery takes place, although there is question as to whether the recovery is sustained. The purpose of the present study was to examine the fate of 5-HT neurons...
Biological Psychiatry
November 15, 1992
Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte
( +_ )3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a synthetic amphetamine analogue used recreationally by humans in the United States (Pcroutka 1987) and Western Europe (Anon 1992), and is thought by some to have potential utility as a psychotherapoutic adjunct (Grinspoon and Bakalar 1986). It is generally believed that MDMA acts via central monoamines, primariJy by inducing transmitter release...
Neuropharmacology
September 1992
Ursula Scheffel, John R. Lever, M Stathis et al.
The present study examined short- and long-term effects of MDMA (3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine) on serotonin (5-HT2 and 5-HT1c) receptors in the brain of the rat. N1-Methyl-2-[125I]lysergic acid diethylamide ([125I]MIL) was used to label these receptors in vitro and in vivo. The usefulness of [125I]MIL for in vivo detection of changes in 5-HT2 receptors was confirmed in preliminary...
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
May 1, 1992
George A. Ricaurte, A L Martello, J L Katz et al.
The purpose of this study was to assess the duration of (+-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine's (MDMA's) effects on serotonin containing neurons in nonhuman primates. Fifteen squirrel monkeys were used: three served as controls, 12 received MDMA s.c. at a dose of 5 mg/kg twice daily for 4 consecutive days. Two weeks, 10 weeks, 8 months and 18 months after drug treatment, groups (n = 3) of...
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
1992
John H. Krystal, Lawrence H. Price, Charles Opsahl et al.
171 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "ecstasy") is a selective serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin in animals. There is now preliminary evidence in humans of 5-HT deficits associated with extensive use of MDMA. In order to begin to describe the cognitive and mood effects of chronic MDMA use, nine individuals with extensive MDMA use histories were studied. Despite the absence of memory deficits on...
Chemical Research in Toxicology
1992
Z Y Zhao, N Castagnoli, G A Ricaurte et al.
Theoretical considerations and recent experimental data have prompted an investigation of the neurotoxicological properties of the 6-hydroxydopamine analogue 2-(methylamino)-1-(2,4,5-trihydroxyphenyl)propane (5) and its possible precursor 1-[2-hydroxy-4,5-(methylenedioxy)phenyl]-2- (methylamino)propane (4), potential metabolites of the serotonergic neurotoxin MDMA. Systemic,...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
October 1, 1991
Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte, Domenic A. Ciraulo
137 citations
Two persons are described who demonstrated prolonged neuropsychiatric syndromes after the ingestion of large doses of (+-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a recreationally used amphetamine analog. These cases suggest that MDMA, known to be neurotoxic to serotonin neurons in several experimental animals, may also produce untoward effects in humans. In addition, they provide evidence...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
July 1, 1991
W A Dornan, J L Katz, George A. Ricaurte
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "Ecstasy") is a potent neurotoxin which preferentially produces 5-HT nerve terminal degeneration in the CNS in both rodents and primates. Timely research on the behavioral effects of acute and long term treatment of MDMA is critical due to the neuropathological effects of MDMA and its abuse liability. Presently, there are no published reports that have...
April 5, 1991
Una D. Mccann, George A. Ricaurte
The two major metabolites of (-+)3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), alpha-methyldopamine (a-MeDA) and 3-O-methyl-amethyldopamine (3-O-Me-a-MeDA), were administered to rats intracerebroventricularly and into brain parenchyma. In addition, their precursors, (a-MeDOPA and 3-O-Me-a-MeDOPA, respectively) were administered systemically, individually and in combination. None of these treatments...
PsycEXTRA Dataset
1989
George A. Ricaurte
46 citations
The results of the studies reviewed here show that the neurotoxic effects of MDMA generalize to the primate. Further, they indicate that monkeys are considerably more sensitive than rats to the serotonin-depleting effects of MDMA, and that the dose-response curve of MDMA in the monkey is much steeper than in the rat. Perhaps as a consequence of this, the toxic effects of MDMA in the monkey...
Neuroscience
1989
M. A. Wilson, George A. Ricaurte, M. Molliver
Immunohistochemical methods were used to analyse the distribution and morphology of serotonergic axons in normal macaque monkeys and in monkeys given (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. In untreated monkeys, we observed two morphologic classes of serotonergic axon terminals, which differ in regional and laminar distribution. These two axon types, fine and beaded, correspond to the...
Brain Research
December 6, 1988
George A. Ricaurte, L. Delanney, S. Wiener et al.
This study examined whether 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be used to detect serotonergic damage induced by (+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the central nervous system (CNS) of non-human primates. Monkeys were administered toxic doses of MDMA; two weeks later, the animals were lightly anesthetized with ether and CSF was obtained by means...
JAMA
July 1, 1988
George A. Ricaurte
294 citations
(+/-)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug that has been proposed to be useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy. This study assessed the neurotoxic potential of MDMA in nonhuman primates. Monkeys were repeatedly administered doses (2.50, 3.75, and 5.00 mg/kg) of MDMA subcutaneously and analyzed for regional brain content of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic...
Brain Research
April 26, 1988
K T Finnegan, G A Ricaurte, L D Ritchie et al.
Recent studies suggest that 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA), when administered subcutaneously, is toxic to central serotonergic neurons in rats. Because humans typically self-administer this drug orally, we compared this route to the s.c. route of administration. Orally administered MDMA produced a dose-related depletion of serotonin comparable to that produced by the s.c. route....
Brain Research
April 12, 1988
George A. Ricaurte, L. Delanney, I. Irwin et al.
This study compared the toxic effects of oral versus subcutaneous and single versus multiple doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on central serotonergic neurons in non-human primates. Orally administered MDMA was approximately one-half as effective as subcutaneously administered drug. Multiple doses were more effective than single doses, but a single 5 mg/kg dose of MDMA given...
European Journal of Pharmacology
June 4, 1987
G A Ricaurte, K F Finnegan, D E Nichols et al.
The present study was carried out to asses possible toxic effects of 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDE) on serotonergic, dopaminergic or noradrenergic neurons in the rat brain. It was found that MDE produced a long-lasting, dose-related depletion of serotonin (5HT). However, even at high dosage, MDE did not reduce the concentration of either dopamine (DA) or norepinephrine (NE) on a...
Science
September 6, 1985
George A. Ricaurte, Guy K. Bryan, L. Strauss et al.
367 citations
(±)-3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), an amphetamine analog with hallucinogenic activity, produced selective long-lasting reductions in the level of serotonin, the number of serotonin uptake sites, and the concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in rat brain. Morphological studies suggested that these neurochemical deficits were due to serotonin nerve terminal degeneration. These results...