PMID- 11579003 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20011101 LR - 20131121 IS - 0002-953X (Print) IS - 0002-953X (Linking) VI - 158 IP - 10 DP - 2001 Oct TI - Electrophysiological evidence of serotonergic impairment in long-term MDMA ("ecstasy") users. PG - 1687-92 AB - OBJECTIVE: "Ecstasy," or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), causes long-term impairment to the serotonin (5-HT) system in rats, dogs, and nonhuman primates. 5-HT dysfunction has also been observed in human recreational users of the drug, but whether 5-HT dysfunction in humans is caused by MDMA has not been established, since dysfunction may have preceded MDMA exposure. This ambiguity about causation is particularly important in MDMA research, because 5-HT deficiency is a predictor of risky behavior. METHOD: The 5-HT function of 22 long-term MDMA users was compared to that of 20 drug-naive comparison subjects and 19 cannabis users. 5-HT function was assessed with the intensity dependence paradigm, a tool that measures 5-HT-related attenuation of neural response to auditory stimuli (measured with EEG). RESULTS: Long-term MDMA users exhibited 5-HT dysfunction, relative to both cannabis users and drug-naive comparison subjects. This dysfunction was related to total MDMA consumption (after removing the effect of frequency of use) but not to frequency of use (after removing the effect of total consumption). CONCLUSIONS: These data show that 5-HT dysfunction occurs in MDMA users, is related to users' MDMA consumption, and is independent of cannabis use. The results do not suggest that self-medication explains this relationship, because the deficit was related to total MDMA consumption but not frequency of consumption. The results are thus consistent with the thesis that MDMA consumption causes 5-HT impairment in humans. FAU - Croft, R J AU - Croft RJ AD - Department of Cognitive Neuroscience & Behavior, Imperial College, School of Medicine, London, UK. FAU - Klugman, A AU - Klugman A FAU - Baldeweg, T AU - Baldeweg T FAU - Gruzelier, J H AU - Gruzelier JH LA - eng PT - Comparative Study PT - Journal Article PL - United States TA - Am J Psychiatry JT - The American journal of psychiatry JID - 0370512 RN - 333DO1RDJY (Serotonin) RN - 7J8897W37S (Dronabinol) RN - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) SB - IM MH - Acoustic Stimulation MH - Adult MH - Auditory Perception/physiology MH - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug MH - Dronabinol/administration & dosage/adverse effects/pharmacology MH - Electroencephalography/drug effects/statistics & numerical data MH - Evoked Potentials, Auditory/drug effects/physiology MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Male MH - Marijuana Abuse/complications/diagnosis/physiopathology MH - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/administration & dosage/*adverse effects/pharmacology MH - Neurotoxicity Syndromes/*diagnosis/etiology/physiopathology MH - Regression Analysis MH - Serotonin/*physiology MH - Substance-Related Disorders/*complications/diagnosis/physiopathology EDAT- 2001/10/02 10:00 MHDA- 2001/11/03 10:01 CRDT- 2001/10/02 10:00 PHST- 2001/10/02 10:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2001/11/03 10:01 [medline] PHST- 2001/10/02 10:00 [entrez] AID - 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.10.1687 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Am J Psychiatry. 2001 Oct;158(10):1687-92. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.10.1687.