Decreasing striatal 6-FDOPA uptake with increasing duration of cocaine withdrawal.
It has been hypothesized that a decrease in dopaminergic presynaptic activity during abstinence or withdrawal is related to relapse in cocaine-dependent subjects (Dackis and Gold 1985; Markou and Koob 1991). This study measured striatal 6-fluorodopa (6-FDOPA) uptake, an index of dopaminergic presynaptic activity, using positron emission tomography (PET) in 11 drug-free cocaine addicts compared to eight normal subjects. Middle abstinence cocaine addicts (n = 5, off cocaine 11-30 days) had significantly lower striatal 6-FDOPA uptake compared to normal controls or early abstinence cocaine addicts (n = 6, off cocaine 1-10 days). The cocaine-dependent subjects (n = 11) showed a significant negative correlation between days off cocaine and striatal 6-FDOPA uptake. The results suggest that during abstinence from cocaine there is a delayed decrease in dopamine terminal activity in the striatum.
Wu
J C
JC
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine College of Medicine, USA.
Bell
K
K
Najafi
A
A
Widmark
C
C
Keator
D
D
Tang
C
C
Klein
E
E
Bunney
B G
BG
Fallon
J
J
Bunney
W E
WE
D000328:Adult; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009294:Narcotics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D009294:Narcotics; C043437:fluorodopa F 18; D004295:Dihydroxyphenylalanine; D003042:Cocaine