PMID- 29733742
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20191031
LR  - 20191031
IS  - 1461-7285 (Electronic)
IS  - 0269-8811 (Linking)
VI  - 32
IP  - 7
DP  - 2018 Jul
TI  - Are ecstasy induced serotonergic alterations overestimated for the majority of 
      users?
PG  - 741-748
LID - 10.1177/0269881118767646 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging studies imply that the regular use of 
      +/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the major constituent of ecstasy 
      pills, alters the brain's serotonergic system in a dose-dependent manner. 
      However, the relevance of these findings remains unclear due to limited knowledge 
      about the ecstasy/MDMA use pattern of real-life users. AIMS: We examined the 
      representativeness of ecstasy users enrolled in neuroimaging studies by comparing 
      their ecstasy use habits with the use patterns of a large, international sample. 
      METHODS: A systematic literature search revealed 10 imaging studies that compare 
      serotonin transporter levels in recreational ecstasy users to matched controls. 
      To characterize the ecstasy use patterns we relied on the Global Drug Survey, the 
      world's largest self-report database on drug use. The basis of the dose 
      comparison were the Usual Amount (pills/session), Use Frequency (sessions/month) 
      and Dose Intensity (pills/year) variables. RESULTS: Both the average Usual Amount 
      (pills/session) and Use Frequency (sessions/month) of neuroimaging study 
      participants corresponded to the top 5-10% of the Global Drug Survey sample and 
      imaging participants, on average, consumed 720% more pills over a year than the 
      Global Drug Survey participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the 
      serotonin brain imaging literature has focused on unusually heavy ecstasy use and 
      therefore the conclusions from these studies are likely to overestimate the 
      extent of serotonergic alterations experienced by the majority of people who use 
      ecstays.
FAU - Szigeti, Balazs
AU  - Szigeti B
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3809-6442
AD  - 1 School of Informatics, Neuroinformatics DTC, University of Edinburgh, UK.
FAU - Winstock, Adam R
AU  - Winstock AR
AD  - 2 Institute of Epidemiology and Health, University College London, UK.
AD  - 3 Global Drug Survey, London, UK.
FAU - Erritzoe, David
AU  - Erritzoe D
AD  - 4 Centre for Psychiatry, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK.
FAU - Maier, Larissa J
AU  - Maier LJ
AD  - 5 University of Zurich, Switzerland.
LA  - eng
GR  - BB/F529254/1/BB_/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United 
      Kingdom
GR  - MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Systematic Review
DEP - 20180507
PL  - United States
TA  - J Psychopharmacol
JT  - Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
JID - 8907828
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 0 (Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins)
RN  - 333DO1RDJY (Serotonin)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Brain/diagnostic imaging/drug effects
MH  - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
MH  - Drug Users
MH  - Hallucinogens/*administration & dosage/pharmacology
MH  - Humans
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*administration & dosage/pharmacology
MH  - Neuroimaging/methods
MH  - Serotonin/*metabolism
MH  - Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/drug effects/metabolism
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/complications/epidemiology
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Ecstasy
OT  - MDMA
OT  - drug policy
OT  - epidemiology
EDAT- 2018/05/08 06:00
MHDA- 2019/11/02 06:00
CRDT- 2018/05/08 06:00
PHST- 2018/05/08 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2019/11/02 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2018/05/08 06:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1177/0269881118767646 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Psychopharmacol. 2018 Jul;32(7):741-748. doi: 10.1177/0269881118767646. Epub 
      2018 May 7.