title: Safety of Oral Amphetamine Administered during Positron Emission Tomography Scans in Medically Screened Humans.
abstract: Changes in endogenous dopamine levels can be detected in humans using positron emission tomography scans by measuring the amount by which a specific D2/3 radioligand is displaced. In some cases, a challenge drug such as amphetamine is introduced to increase the amount of dopamine released into the synaptic cleft. Although intravenous amphetamine is often utilized, oral amphetamine has been shown to be just as effective in increasing endogenous dopamine levels. Based on our own use of oral amphetamine as a challenge drug, we have retroactively reviewed our study charts to determine the cardiovascular safety of 0.5 mg kg(-1) oral d-amphetamine. Of 172 amphetamine administrations in 144 individuals, only 2.8% of subjects experienced any transient adverse effects. In addition, we found no clinically relevant differences in increases of vital signs between healthy controls and patients. We therefore reaffirm the safety of 0.5 mg kg(-1) oral amphetamine in subjects previously screened for cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lora D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Weidner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: W Gordon
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Frankle
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Narendran
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000661:Amphetamine