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Re: Does Ectasy Cause Brain Damage and Depression? » SLS

Posted by Shawn. T. on October 2, 2005, at 18:44:08

In reply to Re: Does Ectasy Cause Brain Damage and Depression? » Shawn. T., posted by SLS on October 1, 2005, at 22:37:01

Hi Scott.

> Are there any other putative indicators that they did not assay for that perhaps don't depend on glial cells to reflect?
>

That's a good question, and I don't know the answer. The glial markers can be used to detect degeneration caused by methamphetamine and 5,7-DHT (O'Callaghan and Miller, 1993, 2002), so I think that the glial indicators have some degree of reliability.

> > These results support the hypothesis that D-FEN- and PCA-induced decreases in tissue 5-HT and SERT binding sites reflect neuroadaptive changes rather than neurotoxic effects."
>
> Interesting way of looking at things. This might be very true. However, this one aspect of neuronal function and adaptation does not exclude the possibility that toxic events are not localized elsewhere in the neuron. What about the synaptic vesicles, their transporters, and the areas of the terminal membrane upon which they fuse? Perhaps more importantly, if the reduction in transporter numbers is also reflected in synaptic vesicles, there might be an inability for the neuron to sequester neurotransmitter at a rate high enough to prevent its oxidation in the cytosol and the subsequent release of free radicals that produce a degeneration of neurites. I don't happen to know if GFAP acts as an index of this type of neurotoxicity.
>

I think that GFAP is an accurate indicator of neurite degeneration. It is not an accurate indicator of oxidative stress, however. MDMA inhibits VMAT-2, the vesicular monoamine transporter; thus, it can increase concentrations of free cytosolic monoamine neurotransmitters as you suggest. Anyone that makes the decision to take MDMA should certainly be sure to consume some potent antioxidants to prevent oxidative damage.

> In the absence of absolute knowledge and understanding, I guess it becomes an exercise in logic as to what we may conclude absolutely. If GFAP appears, we have neurotoxicity. If GFAP does not appear, we don't?
>

I don't think that statements of absolute certainty have any place in neuroscience. So the matter is certainly open to interpretation, and future research should help to guide us toward improved interpretations. GFAP levels are a good marker for neurotoxicity, but they're by no means a definitive guide to whether neurotoxicity has occured. I argue against assertions that MDMA causes brain damage (except the rare cases that Nick brought up) because it doesn't seem right to let people who have tried MDMA to believe that they've suffered brain damage when strong scientific evidence to support that conclusion is lacking. Again, I'm not saying that MDMA isn't associated with serious risks; we just need to be careful about making statements about it that could stigmatize certain people.

Shawn


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poster:Shawn. T. thread:560483
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050927/msgs/562056.html