Posted by djmmm on January 24, 2003, at 8:57:24
In reply to Ecstasy, posted by Caleb462 on January 23, 2003, at 23:03:27
> I don't know of all the research done, but it seems to be pretty certain that there is damage that occurs to serotonin neurons. Atleast, in animals, it happens. Dopamine turns into hydrogen peroxide in the brain and damages axons, or something like that. To what extent, and at what doses this happens to humans, etc. is what is unknown.
>That is the current theory..when ecstasy depletes the serotonin stores, dopamine is still left in the synapse, and since there is a greater amount of dopamine (more easily/quickly produced, it is taken into the serotonin neuron, where MAO degrades it into H2O2, which is toxic to serotonin neurons/axon terminals.
It's difficult to measure the effects in humans because most ecstacy users are polydrug users. There is also a theory that people who use Ecstasy may already have serotonin deficits, thus this specific drug seeking behavior.
I think the best research comes from other serotonin releasers (most of which are neurotoxic in animals) and one specifically (fenfluramine) was shown to be neurotoxic in humans.
poster:djmmm
thread:137145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030119/msgs/137307.html