The goal of this study was twofold: (a) to search for possible interactive effects between two common drugs of abuse, ethanol and methamphetamine. b) To inquire whether any effects of ethanol could be replicated using an equivalent amount of ethanol in the form of red wine. Adult male C57/6N mice received 2% ethanol for 8 weeks in drinking water or red wine diluted to yield the same ethanol con...

The current research analyzed the relationship between methamphetamine use and violence among young adults eighteen to twenty-five years old. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 106 respondents. The research was based primarily on in-depth, life-history interviews with individuals who used methamphetamine for a minimum of three months and who resided in Los Angeles County. Of the 106 res...

Inflammation, phospho-p38 MAPK activation, and a reduction in glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) occur in Parkinson's disease. Microglial activation in the substantia nigra and a tyrosine hydroxylase deficit in the striatum of 3-month-old GDNF heterozygous (GDNF(+/-)) mice were previously reported and both were exacerbated by a toxic methamphetamine binge. The current study asse...

Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant that was initially synthesized in 1920. Since then it has been used to treat attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), obesity and narcolepsy. However, methamphetamine has also become a major drug of abuse worldwide. Under conditions of abuse, which involve the administration of high repetitive doses, methamphetamine can produce considerable neurotoxic ...

This study examined predictors of methamphetamine use in a 6-month prospective study of 2,270 rural young adults. Sensitivity to punishment (SP), sensitivity to reward (SR), and gender were exogenous variables in an observed variable path analysis with 3 endogenous criteria: Time 1 (T1) marijuana use and methamphetamine use at T1 and Time 2 (T2). SP was negatively associated with marijuana use ...

background: the use of methamphetamine and other drugs among young adults has been a theme of growing interest and concern on the part of researchers and health associations. this paper reports recent use of methamphetamine and its relation with some demographic variables among substance users in west of iran. method s: this cross-sectional study was carried out on 559 substance users of hamada...

Chronic abuse of methamphetamine leads to cognitive dysfunction and high rates of relapse, paralleled by significant changes of brain dopamine and serotonin neurotransmission. Previously, we found that rats with extended access to methamphetamine self-administration displayed enhanced methamphetamine-primed reinstatement of drug-seeking and cognitive deficits relative to limited access animals....

BACKGROUND Abnormal patterns of metabolite levels have been detected by magnetic resonance spectroscopy in frontostriatal regions of individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence, but less is known about the effects of drug abstinence on metabolite levels. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of long-term methamphetamine use and drug abstinence on brain metabolite levels. DE...

Methamphetamine-induced toxicity has been shown to require striatal dopamine and to involve mechanisms associated with oxidative stress. Dopamine is a reactive molecule that can oxidize to form free radicals and reactive quinones. Although this has been suggested to contribute to the mechanism of toxicity, the oxidation of dopamine has never been directly measured after methamphetamine exposure...

Despite the worldwide extent of methamphetamine dependence, no medication has been shown to effectively treat afflicted individuals. One relatively unexplored approach is modulation of cholinergic system function. Animal research suggests that enhancement of central cholinergic activity, possibly at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), can reduce methamphetamine-related behaviors. Furthe...