title: Striatal postsynaptic ultrastructural alterations following methylenedioxymethamphetamine administration.
abstract: Amphetamine derivatives, such as methamphetamine (METH) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), act as monoaminergic neurotoxins in the central nervous system. Although there are slight differences in their mechanism of action, these compounds share a final common pathway, which involves dopamine release and oxidative stress. Apart from striatal toxicity involving monoamine axons, no previous report evidenced any alteration at the striatal level concerning postsynaptic sites. Given the potential toxicity for extracellular dopamine at the striatal level, and the hypothesis for neurotoxic effects of dopamine on striatal medium-sized neurons in Huntington's disease, we evaluated at an ultrastructural level the effects of MDMA on intrinsic striatal neurons of the mouse. In this study, administering MDMA, we noted ultrastructural alterations of striatal postsynaptic GABAergic cells consisting of neuronal inclusions shaped as whorls of concentric membranes. These whorls stained for ubiquitin but not for synuclein and represent the first morphologic correlate of striatal postsynaptic effects induced by MDMA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Morphology and Applied Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. f.fornai@med.unipi.it
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fornai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gesi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lenzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruggieri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paparelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001596:Benzylamines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D001596:Benzylamines; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; C017251:1,2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; C012102:DSP 4; D004298:Dopamine