Occipital cortical proton MRS at 4 Tesla in human moderate MDMA polydrug users

Cowan, Ronald L.; Bolo, Nicolas R.; Dietrich, Mary; Haga, Erica; Lukas, Scott E.; Renshaw, Perry F.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.01.008

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 155, Issue 3 , Pages 179-188, 15 August 2007

Occipital cortical proton MRS at 4 Tesla in human moderate MDMA polydrug users

Ronald L. Cowan
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Program, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1601 23rd Avenue South, Suite 3057, Nashville, TN 37212, United States
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 615 322 2303; fax: +1 615 936 3563.
Nicolas R. Bolo
- Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont MA 02478, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02155, United States
Mary Dietrich
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Program, Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1601 23rd Avenue South, Suite 3057, Nashville, TN 37212, United States
Erica Haga
- Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont MA 02478, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02155, United States
Scott E. Lukas
- Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont MA 02478, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02155, United States
Perry F. Renshaw
- Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont MA 02478, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02155, United States

Received 30 May 2006; received in revised form 9 January 2007; accepted 28 January 2007.

Abstract

The recreational drug MDMA (3,4, methylenedioxymethamphetamine; sold under the street name of Ecstasy) is toxic to serotonergic axons in some animal models of MDMA administration. In humans, MDMA use is associated with alterations in markers of brain function that are pronounced in occipital cortex. Among neuroimaging methods, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies of brain metabolites N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and myoinositol (MI) at a field strength of 1.5 Tesla (T) reveal inconsistent results in MDMA users. Because higher field strength proton MRS has theoretical advantages over lower field strengths, we used proton MRS at 4.0 T to study absolute concentrations of occipital cortical NAA and MI in a cohort of moderate MDMA users (n=9) versus non-MDMA using (n=7) controls. Mean NAA in non-MDMA users was 10.47 mM (±2.51), versus 9.83 mM (±1.94) in MDMA users. Mean MI in non-MDMA users was 7.43 mM (±.68), versus 6.57 mM (±1.59) in MDMA users. There were no statistical differences in absolute metabolite levels for NAA and MI in occipital cortex of MDMA users and controls. These findings are not supportive of MDMA-induced alterations in NAA or MI levels in this small sample of moderate MDMA users. Limitations to this study suggest caution in the interpretation of these results.