The abuse of psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine (METH), can cause long-lasting deficits in the dopamine (DA) innervation of the striatum. Although the consequences of large DA depletions on basal ganglia function have been well characterized, less is known about the alterations associated with smaller depletions, such as those produced by high doses of METH. The purpose of this study was...

Previously results have been shown that chronic methamphetamine causes dependence, withdrawal syndrome and drug craving. Also, environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown protective effects in several animal models of addiction. This study evaluated effect of the EE on the anxiety-depression profile and voluntary METH consumption in METH-dependent rats after abstinence. The rats were chronical...

Methamphetamine (METH) is a drug of abuse with neurotoxic and vascular effects that may be mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, potential sources of METH-induced generation of ROS are not fully understood. This study is focused on the role of NAD(P)H oxidase (NOX) in METH-induced dysfunction of brain endothelial cells. Treatment with METH induced a time-dependent increase in phos...

Several laboratories have shown that methamphetamine (METH) neurotoxicity is associated with increases of nitric oxide (NO) production in striatal tissue and blockade of NO production protects from METH. Because substance P modulates NO production, we tested the hypothesis that intrinsic striatal neuropeptides such as somatostatin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) modulate striatal NO production in the ...

In the title compound, [Ni(C(12)H(16)NO(5))(2)]·2H(2)O, the Ni(II) atom is coordinated by four O atoms and two N atoms from the two 6-meth-oxy-2-{[tris-(hydroxy-meth-yl)meth-yl]imino-meth-yl}phenolate ligands in a distorted octa-hedral coordination geometry. O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the complexes and uncoordinated water mol-ecules into two-dimensional networks parallel to (001).

Methamphetamine (METH) is one of the psychostimulants that is co-abused with ethanol. Repeated exposure to high dose of METH has been shown to cause increases in extracellular glutamate concentration. We have recently reported that ethanol exposure can also increase the extracellular glutamate concentration and downregulate the expression of glutamate transporter subtype 1 (GLT-1). GLT-1 is a g...

Methamphetamine (METH) is a powerful psychostimulant that produces dopaminergic neurotoxicity manifested by a decrease in the levels of dopamine, tyrosine hydroxylase activity and dopamine transporter (DAT) binding sites in the nigrostriatal system. We have recently reported that blockade of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) isoform by 7-nitroindazole provides protection against METH-in...

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a widely abused stimulant drug, but this abuse is associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis. In addition to its well-known action on brain dopamine, Meth also affects serotonergic (5-HT) neurons. The aim of this study was to investigate this role in mice, which lack one of the main serotonin receptors, the 5-HT1A receptor, which has been implicated in b...

AKT1 (also known as protein kinase B, α), a serine/threonine kinase of AKT family, has been implicated in both schizophrenia and methamphetamine (Meth) use disorders. AKT1 or its protein also has epistatic effects on the regulation of dopamine-dependent behaviors or drug effects, especially in the striatum. The aim of this study is to investigate the sex-specific role of Akt1 in the regulation ...

Methamphetamine (METH) abuse is a worldwide threat, without any FDA approved medications. Anti-METH IgGs and single chain fragments (scFvs) have shown efficacy in preclinical studies. Here we report affinity enhancement of an anti-METH scFv for METH and its active metabolite amphetamine (AMP), through the introduction of point mutations, rationally designed to optimize the shape and hydrophobic...