Reduced Striatal Dopamine Transporter Density in Abstinent Methamphetamine and Methcathinone Users: Evidence from Positron Emission Tomography Studies with [11C]WIN-35,428
Open Access
- 15 October 1998
- journal article
- Published by Society for Neuroscience in Journal of Neuroscience
- Vol. 18 (20), 8417-8422
- https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.18-20-08417.1998
Abstract
Methamphetamine and methcathinone are psychostimulant drugs with high potential for abuse. In animals, methamphetamine and related drugs are known to damage brain dopamine (DA) neurons, and this damage has recently been shown to be detectable in living nonhuman primates by means of positron emission tomography (PET) with [11C]WIN-35,428, a DA transporter (DAT) ligand. The present studies determined whether living humans with a history of methamphetamine or methcathinone abuse showed evidence of lasting decrements in brain DAT density. PET studies were performed in 10 control subjects, six abstinent methamphetamine users, four abstinent methcathinone users, and three patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). On average, subjects had abstained from amphetamine use for ∼3 years. Before PET studies, all subjects underwent urine and blood toxicology screens to rule out recent drug use. Compared with controls, abstinent methamphetamine and methcathinone users had significant decreases in DAT density in the caudate nucleus (−23 and −24%, respectively) and putamen (−25 and −16%, respectively). Larger decreases in DAT density were evident in patients with PD (47 and 68% in caudate and putamen, respectively). Neither methamphetamine nor methcathinone users showed clinical signs of parkinsonism. Persistent reductions of DAT density in methamphetamine and methcathinone users are suggestive of loss of DAT or loss of DA terminals and raise the possibility that as these individuals age, they may be at increased risk for the development of parkinsonism or neuropsychiatric conditions in which brain DA neurons have been implicated.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- Decreased striatal monoaminergic terminals in olivopontocerebellar atrophy and multiple system atrophy demonstrated with positron emission tomographyAnnals of Neurology, 1996
- Methcathinone: A russian designer amphetamine infiltrates the rural midwestAnnals of Emergency Medicine, 1993
- Synthesis of a radiotracer for studying dopamine uptake sites in vivo using PET: 2β‐carbomethoxy‐3β‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐[N‐11C‐methyl]tropane ([11C]CFT or [11C]WIN‐35,428)Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals, 1993
- Long-term effects of chronic methamphetamine administration in rhesus monkeysBrain Research, 1989
- Role for Excitatory Amino Acids in Methamphetamine-Induced Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic ToxicityScience, 1989
- Uneven Pattern of Dopamine Loss in the Striatum of Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's DiseaseNew England Journal of Medicine, 1988
- Monoamine re-uptake sites in the human brain evaluatedin vivoby means of11C-nomifensine and positron emission tomography: the effects of age and Parkinson's diseaseActa Neurologica Scandinavica, 1988
- Long-term decreases in spontaneous firing of caudate neurons induced by amphetamine in catsBrain Research, 1980
- Long-lasting depletions of striatal dopamine and loss of dopamine uptake sites following repeated administration of methamphetamineBrain Research, 1980
- Methamphetamine-induced changes in brain catecholamines in rats and guinea pigsDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 1979