Methamphetamine preconditioning alters midbrain transcriptional responses to methamphetamine-induced injury in the rat striatum.

ABSTRACT: Methamphetamine (METH) is an illicit drug which is neurotoxic to the mammalian brain. Numerous studies have revealed significant decreases in dopamine and serotonin levels in the brains of animals exposed to moderate-to-large METH doses given within short intervals of time. In contrast, repeated injections of small nontoxic doses of the drug followed by a challenge with toxic METH doses afford significant protection against monoamine depletion. The present study was undertaken to test the possibility that repeated injections of the drug might be accompanied by transcriptional changes involved in rendering the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system refractory to METH toxicity. Our results confirm that METH preconditioning can provide significant protection against METH-induced striatal dopamine

SUBMITTER: Cadet JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2771908 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature