PMID- 16847678
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070302
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 0033-3158 (Print)
IS  - 0033-3158 (Linking)
VI  - 189
IP  - 4
DP  - 2007 Jan
TI  - Neuroimaging research in human MDMA users: a review.
PG  - 539-56
AB  - RATIONALE: Determining whether, under what circumstances, and to what extent 
      3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) exposure produces chronic changes in 
      human brain function is a critical public health issue. MDMA is a widely used 
      recreational drug commonly sold as "Ecstasy". Because findings from the animal 
      literature have indicated that specific dosage regimens of MDMA can produce 
      long-lasting alterations in serotonergic function, existing studies of MDMA 
      effects in humans have examined brain serotonin (5-HT) transporters (5-HTT) and 
      receptors or have examined brain structures or functions potentially affected by 
      MDMA. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this review are to provide a background for 
      interpreting human MDMA neuroimaging research, to examine existing neuroimaging 
      data regarding the rationale for and limitations to human MDMA research, and to 
      provide suggestions for improving the design and interpretation of future 
      neuroimaging approaches. RESULTS: Of the existing neuroimaging studies in human 
      MDMA users, few experimental designs have been replicated across different 
      research groups. Only investigations employing nuclear imaging methods to assay 
      brain 5-HTT levels have been replicated across methods and research laboratories. 
      These studies have found reduced levels of the 5-HTT in recently abstinent MDMA 
      users with some evidence for normalization of 5-HTT levels with prolonged 
      abstinence. However, the sensitivity of these methods is unknown. CONCLUSIONS: 
      The current state of neuroimaging in human MDMA users does not permit conclusions 
      regarding the long-term effects of MDMA exposure. Future study designs might 
      benefit from improved sample homogeneity, increased length of MDMA abstinence, 
      longitudinal study design, test-retest measures, serotonergic specificity, and 
      multimodal approaches.
FAU - Cowan, Ronald L
AU  - Cowan RL
AD  - Psychiatric Neuroimaging Program, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University 
      Medical Center, 1500 21st Avenue South, Suite 3000, Nashville, TN 37212, USA. 
      Ronald.L.Cowan@Vanderbilt.edu
LA  - eng
GR  - DA015137/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - DA016617/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PT  - Review
DEP - 20060718
PL  - Germany
TA  - Psychopharmacology (Berl)
JT  - Psychopharmacology
JID - 7608025
RN  - 0 (Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A)
RN  - 0 (SLC6A4 protein, human)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Agents)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins)
RN  - 30KYC7MIAI (Aspartic Acid)
RN  - 333DO1RDJY (Serotonin)
RN  - 4L6452S749 (Inositol)
RN  - 997-55-7 (N-acetylaspartate)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amphetamine-Related Disorders/*diagnostic 
      imaging/etiology/metabolism/physiopathology/psychology
MH  - Aspartic Acid/analogs & derivatives/metabolism
MH  - Attention/drug effects
MH  - Biomedical Research/methods
MH  - Brain/*diagnostic imaging/drug effects/metabolism/physiopathology
MH  - Cerebrovascular Circulation
MH  - Humans
MH  - Inositol/metabolism
MH  - Memory/drug effects
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*adverse effects
MH  - *Positron-Emission Tomography/methods
MH  - Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A/metabolism
MH  - Reproducibility of Results
MH  - Research Design
MH  - Serotonin/metabolism
MH  - Serotonin Agents/*adverse effects
MH  - Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/metabolism
MH  - *Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon/methods
RF  - 115
EDAT- 2006/07/19 09:00
MHDA- 2007/03/03 09:00
CRDT- 2006/07/19 09:00
PHST- 2005/06/02 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2006/06/01 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2006/07/19 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/03/03 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/07/19 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s00213-006-0467-3 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Jan;189(4):539-56. doi: 
      10.1007/s00213-006-0467-3. Epub 2006 Jul 18.