Abstract It has recently been reported that purity of illicit tablets of ecstasy (MDMA) is now high. Our objective was to confirm whether hair of drug users, who request only ecstasy from their supplier, contains MDMA in the absence of other drugs. GC-MS analysis of scalp hair segments disclosed the presence of MDMA in 19 of 21 subjects and amphetamine/methamphetamine in eight subjects....
The authors found that striatal levels of serotonin and those of its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were severely depleted by 50 to 80% in brain of a chronic user of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) whereas concentrations of dopamine were within the normal control range. Our data suggest that MDMA exposure in the human can cause decreased tissue stores of serotonin and therefore some...