Re: MAPS: Re: People Magazine Blasts MDMA

[Alex Gamma <gamma@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick, dear forum,

>MDMA neurotoxicity has been studied with many millions of dollars of federal
>money, in many different labs, for about 15 years.  Not one, NOT ONE,  single
>study has ever suggested that MDMA kills dopamine cells.

Although probably not relevant to the article in People's magazine, let me
point out that in mice, MDMA obviously causes damgage selective to the
*dopamine*, but not serotonin system. My reference is A. Richard Green et
al.'s review entitled: "Review of the pharmacology and clinical
pharmacology of 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or "Ecstasy"),
Psychopharmacology (1995) 119:247-260.
	On page 252, right-hand column, the second sentence says: "In mice,
however, it [MDMA] induces neurotoxic damage to dopamine terminals in the
striatum, with little effect on 5-HT [=serotonin] in major brain regions."
He refers to the following papers:

Miller DB et al. (1994) Environment and stress-induced alterations in body
temperature affect the neurotoxicity of substituted amphetamines in the
C57BL/6J mouse. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 270:752-760

Laverty R. et al. (1990) Protection by MK-801 and other drugs of
methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) neurotoxicity in rats and mice. Eur J
Pharmacol 183:451-452

Logan BJ et al. (1988) Differences between rats and mice in MDMA
(methylenedioxymethamphetamine) neurotoxicity. Eur J Pharmacol 152:227-234


- Alex Gamma


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