Addiction Biology
April 2009
Ema Alves, Teresa Summavielle, Cecília Juliana Alves et al.
The administration of a neurotoxic dose of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') to the rat results in mitochondrial oxidative damage in the central nervous system, namely lipid and protein oxidation and mitochondrial DNA deletions with subsequent impairment of the correspondent protein expression. Although these toxic effects were shown to be prevented by monoamine oxidase B...
The British Journal of Psychiatry
March 31, 2009
Sudhakar Selvaraj, Rosa Hoshi, Zubin Bhagwagar et al.
59 citations
Background Animal experimental studies have prompted concerns that widespread use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘ecstasy’) by young people may pose a major public health problem in terms of persistent serotonin neurotoxicity. Aims To determine the status of brain serotonin neurons in a group of abstinent MDMA users. Method We assessed the integrity of brain serotonin neurons by...
Physiology & Behavior
March 23, 2009
Valerie B Thompson, Justin Heiman, James B Chambers et al.
The current study sought to determine whether prenatal 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methamphetamine (MDMA) exposure from E14-20 in the rat resulted in behavioral sequelae in adult offspring. Prenatal MDMA exposure results in increased dopaminergic fiber density in the prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens of young rats. Since these areas are critical in response to novelty, reward,...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 20, 2009
MDMA (ecstasy) use is associated with reduced BOLD signal change during semantic recognition in abstinent human polydrug users: a preliminary fMRI study.
Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 9, 2009
P.-ø. Johansen, Ts Krebs
98 citations
Abstract Exposure therapy is known to be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, exposure is not used as much as it should be, and instead patients are often given supportive medications such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines, which may even interfere with the extinction learning that is the aim of treatment. Given that randomized controlled trials...
International Journal of Legal Medicine
March 2009
M Abondo, Renaud Bouvet, Alain Baert et al.
In France, the term chemical or drug-assisted submission is usually defined as the rendering of a person vulnerable by the surreptitious administration of an active substance with the purpose of prejudicing the person or his/her possessions. If the harm is sexual assault, establishing the victim's submission involves both proving that a dangerous substance was administered, providing material...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
March 2009
Ronald L Cowan, James M. Joers, Mary S Dietrich
Impaired verbal memory is common in MDMA (Ecstasy) polydrug users. The contributions of Ecstasy or polydrug exposure to reduced verbal memory are unclear, as is the neural basis for this cognitive deficit. Ecstasy users have reduced gray matter in brain regions mediating verbal memory (BA 18, 21 and 45). N-acetylaspartate (NAA) as a neuronal marker and myoinositol (mI) as a glial marker are...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 2009
Anna M S Kindlundh-Högberg, Xiaoqun Zhang, Per Svenningsson
The recreational drug 3,4-methylenedioxy-metamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') enhances serotonin and dopamine transmission. Repeated binge treatment with MDMA (5 mg/kg, 3 times daily, 3 h apart, once per week for 4 wk) was found to increase gene expression of S100B, a neurotrophic factor that modulates neuronal plasticity. Mutant mice overexpressing S100B were investigated to better understand how...
Annales pharmaceutiques francaises
March 2009
M-B Fleury, Anne Neudörffer, Anne Felim et al.
Intracerebroventricular injection of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) in rats fails to reproduce long-term toxic effects observed after peripheral administration. Therefore, systemic metabolites would play an essential role in the development of cytotoxicity. In humans, the major metabolite is the 3,4-dihydroxymethamphetamine derivative (HHMA), which is easily oxidizable to the...
Cardiovascular toxicology
March 2009
Sylvia K Shenouda, Kurt J Varner, Félix Carvalho et al.
Repeated administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) (ecstasy) produces eccentric left ventricular (LV) dilation and diastolic dysfunction. While the mechanism(s) underlying this toxicity are unknown, oxidative stress plays an important role. MDMA is metabolized into redox cycling metabolites that produce superoxide. In this study, we demonstrated that metabolites of MDMA induce...