Ecstasy's after-effects on the brain imaged
Image: Elsevier Science Channel
The popular recreational drug ecstasy (MDMA) damages 5-HT brain neurons (serotonin cells) according to a study in The Lancet. The study used positron emission tomography (PET) to find that frequent MDMA users had reduced serotonin transporter binding.
Although generalized conclusions about the rights and wrongs of drug use are notoriously difficult to draw from such studies, the neurotransmitter serotonin has already been implicated in a number of behavioral disorders. Studies in animals including non-human primates have shown reduced serotonin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid up to a year after MDMA use
but it was not known whether this affected human brain cells.
When PET was used to compare the binding of radioactive labeled serotonin transporters to serotonin cells in small group of "serious" MDMA users, this capacity was found to be decreased. PET has been used to test for serotonin binding in baboons on replacement amphetamines and the development of a direct technique to study serotonin in living humans brains, may help to determine the behavioral significance of such drug or disease induced changes.
It is presently not known what the precise function of serotonin is and more research will be required before it is known whether this type of brain cell injury is reversible in MDMA users.
