Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2006
Rainer Thomasius, P. Zapletalova, Kay Uwe Petersen et al.
158 citations
Although 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is a known serotonergic neurotoxin in different animal species, there is to date no conclusive evidence of its neurotoxicity in humans. MDMA use was associated with impairments of psychological well-being, verbal memory and altered serotonergic functioning in a number of crosssectional studies. Due to inherent methodological...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
March 1, 2006
Euphrosyne Gouzoulis‐mayfrank, Jörg Daumann
179 citations
The popular dance drug ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine -- MDMA) is neurotoxic upon central serotonergic neurons in laboratory animals and possibly also in humans. In recent years, several studies reported alterations of serotonergic transmission and neuropsychiatric abnormalities in ecstasy users which might be related to MDMA-induced neurotoxic brain damage. To date, the most...
Addiction
February 27, 2006
Euphrosyne Gouzoulis‐mayfrank, Jörg Daumann
189 citations
ABSTRACT Background The popular dance drug ecstasy (3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine: MDMA and some analogues) causes selective and persistent neurotoxic damage of central serotonergic neurones in laboratory animals. Serotonin plays a role in numerous functional systems in the central nervous system (CNS). Consequently, various abnormalities including psychiatric, vegetative, neuroendocrine...
Neuropsychopharmacology
February 2006
Annis O. Mechan, Jie Yuan, George Hatzidimitriou et al.
A large body of data indicates that (+/-)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'ecstasy') can damage brain serotonin neurons in animals. However, the relevance of these preclinical data to humans is uncertain, because doses and routes of administration used in animals have generally differed from those used by humans. Here, we examined the pharmacokinetic profile of MDMA in squirrel monkeys...
Journal of Neuroscience
January 4, 2006
Joseph M. Breier, Michael G. Bankson, Bryan K. Yamamoto
The specific mechanisms underlying (+)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-induced damage to 5-HT terminals are unknown. Despite the hypothesized role for dopamine (DA) and DA-derived free radicals in mediating this damage, it remains unclear why MDMA produces long-term depletions of 5-HT in brain regions that are sparsely innervated by DA neurons. We hypothesized that the precursor to DA...
Psychopharmacology
January 2006
A G Romano, Jennifer L Quinn, R Liu et al.
Associative learning during Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning has been shown to be regulated by 5-HT2A receptors. The existence of inverse agonists that retard learning through an action at the 5-HT2A receptor suggests the existence of constitutive activity at that receptor and that depletion of serotonin should have minimal effects on learning. We examined whether depletion of serotonin would...
Neuroscience
2006
J P Capela, Karsten Ruscher, M Lautenschlager et al.
Studies on 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("ecstasy")-induced neurotoxicity mainly focus on damage of serotonergic terminals. Less attention has been given to neuronal cell death produced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and other amphetamines in areas including the cortex, striatum and thalamus. In the present study we investigated 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity...
Neuropharmacology
January 2006
Ruth Mcnamara, Aoife Kerans, Barry O'Neill et al.
The present study determined the effect of caffeine co-administration on the core body temperature response and long-term serotonin (5-HT) loss induced by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; "Ecstasy") and its metabolite methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA; "Love") to rats. In group-housed animals, caffeine (10 mg/kg) enhanced the acute toxicity of MDMA (15 mg/kg) and MDA (7.5 mg/kg), resulting in...
2006
Katie Brennan
Rationale +/- 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces effects on a number of neurochemical systems. Many studies have shown that repeated MDMA administration produces deficits in central serotonergic neurotransmission, which have been suggested to underlie some of the behavioural changes associated with use. Objectives The present studies sought to evaluate the functional statuses of...
The Journal of Comparative Neurology
2006
Csaba Ádori, Rómeó D. Andó, Gábor G. Kovács et al.
51 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") causes long-term disturbance of the serotonergic system. We examined the temporal, spatial, and cellular distribution of three molecular chaperones, Hsp27, Hsp72, and Hsp90, 3 and 7 days after treatment with 7.5, 15, and 30 mg/kg single intraperitoneal (i.p.) doses of MDMA in Dark Agouti rat brains. Furthermore, we compared the immunostaining...