Long-Term Effects of “Ecstasy” Use on Serotonin Transporters of the Brain Investigated by PET

Article Figures & Data

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
FIGURE 1.
Definition of VOIs for putamen, caudate, thalamus, and white matter (left), mesencephalon (middle), and cerebellum (right) in transversal slices of the ¹¹C-(+)-McN5652-PET template. VOIs were composed of circles of 4.1-mm radius drawn in appropriate number of slices (mesencephalon, no. of slices = 3/no. of circles = 9/no. of voxels = 50; putamen, 4/24/166; caudate, 6/12/83; thalamus, 4/16/105; cerebellum, 5/40/273; white matter, 8/16/108).
Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
FIGURE 2.
Representative time-activity curves. SUVs for mesencephalon, thalamus, white matter, and cerebellum VOIs in drug-naive control subject are plotted.

TABLE 1

Demographics

Parameter	Actual ecstasy users (group A)	Former ecstasy users (group F)	Drug-naive controls (group N)	Polydrug users (group P)
n	30	29	29	29
Age (y)	24.5 ± 4.2 (19–34)	24.2 ± 3.6 (19–36)	23.3 ± 3.7 (18–33)	24.4 ± 4.6 (18–35)
Sex (F/M)	15/15	14/15	15/14	14/15

TABLE 2

Ecstasy Consumption Data

Parameter	Actual ecstasy users (group A)	Former ecstasy users (group F)
Cumulated ecstasy dose (tablets)	827 ± 1,268 (13–6,873)	793 ± 679 (78–3,122)
Duration of use (mo)	54 ± 32 (5–120)	55 ± 27 (18–116)
Time since last ecstasy ingestion at day of PET (d)	24 ± 16 (4–60)	514 ± 472 (90–1,500)
Age at first ecstasy ingestion (y)	20.0 ± 3.8 (14–30)	18.3 ± 3.0 (15–28)

TABLE 3

Exposure to Drugs Other than Ecstasy

Parameter	Actual ecstasy users (group A)	Former ecstasy users (group F)	Drug-naive controls (group N)	Polydrug users (group P)
Amphetamine cumulated dose (g)	68 ± 106	77 ± 115	0	4 ± 9
Cannabis cumulated dose (g)	567 ± 1,188	2,133 ± 2,200	0	1,232 ± 1,303
LSD cumulated dose (g)	1.6 ± 5.2	2.4 ± 5.1	0	0.2 ± 0.4
Psilocybine cumulated dose (g)	0.9 ± 3.2	5.1 ± 15.6	0	14.4 ± 32.5
Cocaine cumulated dose (g)	38 ± 75	101 ± 219	0	255 ± 708
Alcohol in past week (g)	94 ± 97	152 ± 198	71 ± 72	197 ± 195
Nicotine in past week (cigarettes)	53 ± 58	101 ± 71	66 ± 65	135 ± 80

TABLE 4

Injected Tracer Doses

Parameter	Actual ecstasy users (group A)	Former ecstasy users (group F)	Drug-naive controls (group N)	Polydrug users (group P)
Radioactivity dose (MBq)	465 ± 87 (324–700)	451 ± 71 (251–549)	467 ± 84 (134–582)	480 ± 59 (360–555)
Specific activity at injection (MBq/nmol)	56.4 ± 50.0 (14.0–203)	66.5 ± 47.5 (14.6–204)	87.7 ± 44.0 (14.7–175)	120 ± 56.7 (47.4–302)
Mass dose (nmol)	14.9 ± 9.8 (1.6–35.3)	11.2 ± 8.6 (2.3–35.2)	8.0 ± 7.7 (2.2–36.7)	4.7 ± 1.7 (1.3–8.6)

TABLE 5

DVRs, 1-Way ANOVA, and Scheffé Post Hoc Test

Region	Actual ecstasy users (group A) (n = 30)	Former ecstasy users (group F) (n = 29)	Drug-naive controls (group N) (n = 29)	Polydrug users (group P) (n = 29)	ANOVA				Scheffé test
Region	Actual ecstasy users (group A) (n = 30)	Former ecstasy users (group F) (n = 29)	Drug-naive controls (group N) (n = 29)	Polydrug users (group P) (n = 29)					Scheffé test	dF	F	P
Mesencephalon	1.163 ± 0.071	1.220 ± 0.074	1.224 ± 0.047	1.234 ± 0.069	116	6.858	0.000	A/FA/NA/P^†
Putamen	1.356 ± 0.100	1.386 ± 0.097	1.387 ± 0.066	1.407 ± 0.090	116	1.628	0.187
Caudate	1.198 ± 0.085	1.239 ± 0.093	1.239 ± 0.049	1.258 ± 0.082	116	3.034	0.032	A/P^‡
Thalamus	1.349 ± 0.088	1.402 ± 0.090	1.408 ± 0.073	1.411 ± 0.100	116	3.341	0.022	A/N^‡A/P^‡
White matter	0.561 ± 0.064	0.565 ± 0.047	0.577 ± 0.057	0.566 ± 0.062	116	0.430	0.732

TABLE 6

SUVs, 1-Way ANOVA, and Scheffé Post Hoc Test

Region	Actual ecstasy users (group A) (n = 30)	Former ecstasy users (group F) (n = 29)	Drug-naive controls (group N) (n = 29)	Polydrug users (group P) (n = 28)	ANOVA				Scheffé test
Region	Actual ecstasy users (group A) (n = 30)	Former ecstasy users (group F) (n = 29)	Drug-naive controls (group N) (n = 29)	Polydrug users (group P) (n = 28)					Scheffé test	dF	F	P
Mesencephalon	3.856 ± 0.615	3.784 ± 0.929	4.243 ± 0.645	3.861 ± 0.640	115	2.421	0.070
Putamen	4.173 ± 0.690	4.037 ± 1.030	4.452 ± 0.708	4.144 ± 0.634	115	1.481	0.224
Caudate	3.663 ± 0.593	3.559 ± 0.921	3.946 ± 0.631	3.567 ± 0.577	115	1.957	0.125
Thalamus	4.166 ± 0.669	4.095 ± 1.037	4.556 ± 0.729	4.158 ± 0.703	115	2.017	0.116
White matter	1.914 ± 0.321	1.775 ± 0.374	2.000 ± 0.333	1.789 ± 0.328	115	2.883	0.039	—
Cerebellum	2.797 ± 0.478	2.612 ± 0.600	2.858 ± 0.450	2.612 ± 0.386	115	1.964	0.123