PMID- 15229049
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20040819
LR  - 20171116
IS  - 0002-953X (Print)
IS  - 0002-953X (Linking)
VI  - 161
IP  - 7
DP  - 2004 Jul
TI  - A voxel-based PET investigation of the long-term effects of "Ecstasy" consumption 
      on brain serotonin transporters.
PG  - 1181-9
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Recent functional imaging studies have reported evidence of 
      alterations in the serotonergic system induced by 
      3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or "Ecstasy." However, these studies 
      have often been limited by small sample size, lack of tracer selectivity, 
      unreliable assessment of MDMA doses, insufficiently matched comparison groups, or 
      region-of-interest analysis. METHOD: Positron emission tomography (PET) using the 
      specific serotonin transporter ligand [(11)C](+)McN5652 was performed in 117 
      subjects: 30 current MDMA users, 29 former MDMA users, 29 drug-naive comparison 
      subjects, and 29 users of drugs other than MDMA (polydrug comparison subjects). 
      Self-assessment of drug history was checked by analyzing hair samples. Local 
      serotonin transporter availability was computed by a regularized reference tissue 
      approach. Voxel-based comparison of serotonin transporter availability was 
      performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM 99). RESULTS: Serotonin 
      transporter availability in current MDMA users was significantly reduced in the 
      mesencephalon, thalamus, left caudate, hippocampus, occipital cortex, temporal 
      lobes, and posterior cingulate gyrus compared with all other groups. Reduction 
      was more pronounced in female than in male subjects. There was no significant 
      difference of serotonin transporter availability among former MDMA users and the 
      drug-naive and polydrug comparison subjects. A negative correlation between 
      serotonin transporter availability and mean MDMA dose was found in occipital 
      visual areas and in the left precentral sulcus of current MDMA users. In 
      addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the serotonin 
      transporter availability and the MDMA abstention period in brainstem and in the 
      basal forebrain in all MDMA users. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the 
      hypothesis of MDMA-induced protracted alterations of the serotonergic system and 
      indicate that the reduced availability of serotonin transporter, as measured by 
      PET, might be reversible. Women appear to be more susceptible than men to 
      MDMA-induced alterations of the serotonergic system.
FAU - Buchert, Ralph
AU  - Buchert R
AD  - Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, 
      Martinistrasse 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany. buchert@uke.uni-Hamburg.de
FAU - Thomasius, Rainer
AU  - Thomasius R
FAU - Wilke, Florian
AU  - Wilke F
FAU - Petersen, Kay
AU  - Petersen K
FAU - Nebeling, Bruno
AU  - Nebeling B
FAU - Obrocki, Jost
AU  - Obrocki J
FAU - Schulze, Oliver
AU  - Schulze O
FAU - Schmidt, Ulrich
AU  - Schmidt U
FAU - Clausen, Malte
AU  - Clausen M
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - Am J Psychiatry
JT  - The American journal of psychiatry
JID - 0370512
RN  - 0 (Carbon Radioisotopes)
RN  - 0 (Carrier Proteins)
RN  - 0 (Isoquinolines)
RN  - 0 (Membrane Glycoproteins)
RN  - 0 (Membrane Transport Proteins)
RN  - 0 (Nerve Tissue Proteins)
RN  - 0 (SLC6A4 protein, human)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Agents)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Antagonists)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins)
RN  - 96GSK40TLP (McN 5652)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Brain/diagnostic imaging/*drug effects/*metabolism
MH  - Carbon Radioisotopes
MH  - Carrier Proteins/drug effects/*metabolism
MH  - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Isoquinolines
MH  - Male
MH  - Membrane Glycoproteins/drug effects/*metabolism
MH  - *Membrane Transport Proteins
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/adverse effects/*pharmacology
MH  - Nerve Tissue Proteins/drug effects/*metabolism
MH  - Serotonin Agents/adverse effects/*pharmacology
MH  - Serotonin Antagonists
MH  - Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
MH  - Sex Factors
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/diagnostic imaging/*metabolism
MH  - *Tomography, Emission-Computed
EDAT- 2004/07/02 05:00
MHDA- 2004/08/20 05:00
CRDT- 2004/07/02 05:00
PHST- 2004/07/02 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/08/20 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2004/07/02 05:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.7.1181 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Am J Psychiatry. 2004 Jul;161(7):1181-9. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.7.1181.