PMID- 16911734
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070118
LR  - 20060816
IS  - 0965-2140 (Print)
IS  - 0965-2140 (Linking)
VI  - 101
IP  - 9
DP  - 2006 Sep
TI  - Widespread axonal damage in the brain of drug abusers as evidenced by 
      accumulation of beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP): an immunohistochemical 
      investigation.
PG  - 1339-46
AB  - BACKGROUND: In drug abusers, white matter changes have been described by 
      neuroimaging analyses in different brain regions. A specific pattern of 
      involvement or a predominance of a specific brain region could not be drawn. 
      AIMS: To examine alterations of the white matter as a possible morphological 
      substrate of the neuroimaging findings. METHODS: Brain specimens of 30 polydrug 
      abusers and 20 controls were obtained at autopsy. The white matter from 11 
      different brain regions was analysed by means of immunohistochemistry for 
      beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP), a marker of axonal damage. FINDINGS: 
      In the white matter of polydrug abusers, beta-APP-immunopositive accumulations 
      were increased significantly compared to controls. They were more prominent in 
      the brains of younger drug abusers than in those of the elderly. With the 
      exception of five cases (four polydrug abusers and one control case), there were 
      no significant white matter changes seen on myelin-stained sections, but there 
      was a concomitant microglial activation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a 
      significant axonal damage in the brains of polydrug abusers, which might 
      represent the morphological substrate of a chronic-progressive drug-induced 
      toxic-metabolic process. It is yet to be established if the observed changes are 
      responsible for the alterations seen in different neuroimaging analyses and which 
      drugs of abuse might be of major pathogenetic significance.
FAU - Buttner, Andreas
AU  - Buttner A
AD  - Institute of Legal Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 80337 Munich, 
      Germany. andreas.buettner@med.uni-muenchen.de
FAU - Rohrmoser, Katharina
AU  - Rohrmoser K
FAU - Mall, Gita
AU  - Mall G
FAU - Penning, Randolph
AU  - Penning R
FAU - Weis, Serge
AU  - Weis S
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - Addiction
JT  - Addiction (Abingdon, England)
JID - 9304118
RN  - 0 (Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor/*metabolism
MH  - Axons/*drug effects/metabolism
MH  - Brain Diseases/*metabolism
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunohistochemistry
MH  - Male
MH  - Nerve Degeneration
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*metabolism
EDAT- 2006/08/17 09:00
MHDA- 2007/01/19 09:00
CRDT- 2006/08/17 09:00
PHST- 2006/08/17 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/01/19 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/08/17 09:00 [entrez]
AID - ADD1505 [pii]
AID - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01505.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Addiction. 2006 Sep;101(9):1339-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01505.x.