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Striatal serotonin is depleted in brain of a human MDMA (Ecstasy) user

From the Human Neurochemical Pathology Laboratory (Dr. Kish) and Movement Disorder Research Laboratory (Dr. Furukawa), Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto; Department of Pathology (Neuropathology) (Dr. Ang), Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, Canada; and Division of Forensic Toxicology (S.P. Vorce and Dr. Kalasinsky), Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Washington, DC.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Stephen Kish, Human Neurochemical Pathology Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1R8.

The authors found that striatal levels of serotonin and those of its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were severely depleted by 50 to 80% in brain of a chronic user of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) whereas concentrations of dopamine were within the normal control range. Our data suggest that MDMA exposure in the human can cause decreased tissue stores of serotonin and therefore some of the behavioral effects of this drug of abuse could be caused by massive release and depletion of brain serotonin.

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