In Australia and increasingly worldwide, methamphetamine is one of the most commonly seized drugs analysed by forensic chemists. The current well-established GC/MS methods used to identify and quantify methamphetamine are lengthy, expensive processes, but often rapid analysis is requested by undercover police leading to an interest in developing this new analytical technique. Ninety six illicit...

A study was undertaken to develop demographic, toxicologic, and pathological profiles of methamphetamine-related deaths. Anatomic and toxicologic findings in 413 deaths where methamphetamine was detected were compared with findings in a control group of 114 drug-free trauma victims. The number of cases per year did not change significantly over the course of the study. Mean age was 36.8 years, ...

A neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine impairs object recognition (OR) in rats. The present study investigated whether neurotoxicity is a necessary component of methamphetamine's effect on OR. Animals were exposed to a sensitizing regimen of methamphetamine, and were tested for OR one week, and locomotor behavior two weeks, later. Quantitative autoradiography was used to measure [(125)I]RTI-55...

A method for the detection and quantitation of methamphetamine and its major metabolite in hair, nails, sweat, and saliva from habitual users of methamphetamine by mass fragmentography has been developed. Hair and nail samples were washed with water and methanol to remove the external contamination, processed with 0.6M HCl, alkalinized, and extracted with CHCl3/isopropanol (3:1 v/v). Sweat and ...

Both lobeline and lobelane attenuate methamphetamine self-administration in rats by decreasing methamphetamine-induced dopamine release via interaction with the vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT2). A novel derivative of nor-lobelane, cis-2,5-di-(2phenethyl)-pyrrolidine hydrochloride (UKCP-110) and its trans-isomers, (2R,5R)-trans-di-(2phenethyl)-pyrrolidine hydrochloride (UKCP-111) and (2...

Methamphetamine intoxication causes long-lasting damage to dopamine nerve endings in the striatum. The mechanisms underlying this neurotoxicity are not known but oxidative stress has been implicated. Microglia are the major antigen-presenting cells in brain and when activated, they secrete an array of factors that cause neuronal damage. Surprisingly, very little work has been directed at the st...

BACKGROUND Methamphetamine is a psychomotor stimulant with abuse liability and a substrate for catecholamine uptake transporters. Acute methamphetamine elevates extracellular dopamine, which in the midbrain can activate D2 autoreceptors to increase a G-protein gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) conductance that inhibits dopamine neuron firing. These studies examined the neurophysiologic...

Objectives To identify the associations of characteristics of the neighborhood environment with substance abuse among clients receiving treatment for drug abuse in Thailand. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted of 1128 drug addicts from 28 neighborhoods who were receiving treatment at all 7 compulsory drug detention centers in Thailand. A trained interviewer conducted structured inte...

Methamphetamine is one of the most abused illicit drugs with roughly 1.2 million users in the United States alone. A large portion of methamphetamine and its metabolites is eliminated by the kidney with renal clearance larger than glomerular filtration clearance. Yet the mechanism of active renal secretion is poorly understood. The goals of this study were to characterize the interaction of met...