ECSTASY USE MAY DEPLETE STRIATAL SEROTONIN

WESTPORT, Jul 25 (Reuters Health) - Autopsy results of the brain of a
26-year-old chronic user of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or
"Ecstasy") suggest that levels of serotonin and its major metabolite are
severely depleted in the striatum of MDMA users.

Dr. Steven J. Kish of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in
Toronto, Canada, and colleagues examined the autopsied brains of 11
neurologically normal subjects and 1 confirmed MDMA user. The MDMA user
also abused cocaine and heroin during the last few months of his life.

As they report in the July 25th issue of Neurology, compared with the
controls, levels of serotonin and its major metabolite
5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were 50% to 80% lower in the brain of the MDMA
user, whereas levels of dopamine and its major metabolites were within the
normal range.

"This is the first study to show that this drug can deplete the level of
serotonin in humans," Dr. Kish said in an American Academy of Neurology
statement. "Some of the behavioral effects of this drug are probably due to
the massive release and depletion of serotonin. And the depression that
people feel after going off the drug could also be explained by the
depletion of serotonin in the brain."

"Of course, these findings should be confirmed through additional studies,"
he added. "Conclusions based on a single case can only be tentative."

Reference: Neurology 2000;55:294-296