Methamphetamine (METH) is an illicit psychostimulant that is widely abused in the world. Several lines of evidence suggest that chronic METH abuse leads to neurodegenerative changes in the human brain. These include damage to dopamine and serotonin axons, loss of gray matter accompanied by hypertrop …

Methamphetamine (METH) is a sympathomimetic amine that belongs to phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs, which are widely abused for their stimulant, euphoric, empathogenic, and hallucinogenic properties. Many of these effects result from acute increases in dopamine and serotoni …

The findings of our study affirm that the levels of CRP, C3, SAA, and cortisol, which reflect inflammation, are enhanced by circadian disruption, cocaine, and METH, and these levels show a strong correlation with the content of circulating cell-free mtDNA. Furthermore, it also shows the potential li …

Activation of redox-sensitive transcription factors like nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) can enhance the transcription of cytoprotective genes during oxidative stress. We investigated whether Nrf2 is activated by methamphetamine (METH) thereby altering neurotoxicity in Nrf2 +/+ and -/- adu …

Methamphetamine use disorder is a chronic relapsing condition associated with substantial mental, physical, and social harms and increasing rates of mortality. Contingency management and psychotherapy interventions are the mainstays of treatment but are modestly effective with high relapse rates, wh …

We successfully developed and characterized a novel METH vaccine in vitro and in vivo. The present study findings are encouraging and will form the basis of further exploration to assess its effectiveness to prevent METH addiction in preclinical models.

Methamphetamine (METH) is an amphetamine-type stimulant that is highly toxic to the central nervous system (CNS). Repeated intake of METH can lead to addiction, which has become a globalized problem, resulting in multiple public health and safety problems. Recently, the non-coding RNA (ncRNA) has be …

HIV-associated dementia complex is a serious disabling disease characterized by cognitive, behavioral and motor dysfunction. Basal ganglia involvement in HIV-1 infection may be responsible for some of the psychomotor symptoms associated with HIV dementia. The objectives of the present study were to …

Treatment of dopaminergic rat PC12 cells with human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein or tat cDNA inhibited the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme for the dopamine biosynthetic pathway, as well as the production and release of dopamine into the culture …

HIV-1 infection of the brain can lead to the development of clinical syndromes reminiscent of Parkinson's disease, suggesting that HIV infection may damage nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons. Although the responsible mechanisms have not been well defined, neurotoxic viral proteins, such as Tat, rel …

Oxidative stress is believed to be an important mechanism underlying dopamine-induced neuronal damage. This study provides X-band electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopic evidence for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation during dopamine metabolism. The authors induced excess dopamine metaboli …

Dopamine (DA) and its metabolites containing two hydroxyl residues exert cytotoxicity in dopaminergic neuronal cells, primarily due to the generation of highly reactive DA and DOPA quinones. Quinone formation is closely linked to other representative hypotheses such as mitochondrial dysfunction, inf …

Protein tyrosine nitration is an important post-translational modification mediated by nitric oxide (NO) associated oxidative stress, occurring in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. In our previous study, an elevated level of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1) protein was observ …

A possible role for NO modulation of dopamine (DA) release in the caudate/putamen (CPU) during methamphetamine (METH) exposure was investigated using in vivo microdialysis in rats. Inclusion of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors NG-nitro-L-arginine (NOARG), NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester ( …

Methamphetamine [METH ("speed")] is an abused psychostimulant that can cause psychotic, cognitive, and psychomotor impairment in humans. These signs and symptoms are thought to be related to dysfunctions in basal ganglionic structures of the brain. To identify possible molecular bases for these clin …

Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent psychostimulant highly used worldwide. Recent studies evidenced the involvement of METH in the breakdown of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) integrity leading to compromised function. The involvement of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the degradation of the ne …

Minocycline is currently under development as a neuroprotective agent in many different brain diseases. In more than a dozen experimental investigations in various models of brain injury, high doses of minocycline have been administered intraperitoneally. This report details new concerns with this r …

Repeated injections of methamphetamine (METH) cause degeneration of striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals. In the present study, we examined the effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on METH-induced striatal neurotoxicity in mice. Intraperitoneal injection of IFN-gamma before METH injection signif …

Methamphetamine is a type of psychoactive drug. It is well known that neurotoxicity caused by Methamphetamine(METH) can damage the nervous system and lead to apoptosis and cell loss of dopaminergic neurons. ROCK2 is a prominent target for gene therapy because its inhibition has proved to have a prot …

Failure to find more substantial changes in transporter levels and neurocognitive function may be attributed to the length of time that MA users were abstinent (ranging from 3 months to more than 10 years, mean 3 years), although there were no correlations with length of abstinence. Persistent VMAT2 …

The abuse of the illicit drug methamphetamine (METH) is a major concern because it can cause terminal degeneration and neuronal cell death in the brain. METH-induced cell death occurs via processes that resemble apoptosis. In the present review, we discuss the role of various apoptotic events in the …

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in amphetamine-initiated neurodegeneration, but the mechanism is unclear. Here, we show that amphetamines are bioactivated by CNS prostaglandin H synthase (PHS) to free radical intermediates that cause ROS formation and neurodegenerative oxidative DNA dam …

Several hypotheses regarding the mechanism underlying amphetamine-induced neurotoxicity have been proposed. One of them is based on the observation of free radical formation and oxidative stress produced by auto-oxidation of dopamine (DA). The formation of DA-related reactive oxygen species (ROS) su …

Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent inducer of dopamine (DA) release, and is toxic to DA neurons. It has been reported that the formation of free radicals is an early signaling event that mediates cell death caused by METH. Currently, studies suggest that the generation of free radicals by oxidative …

Glutamate, the most abundant excitatory transmitter in the brain can lead to neurotoxicity when not properly regulated. Excitotoxicity is a direct result of abnormal regulation of glutamate concentrations in the synapse, and is a common neurotoxic mediator associated with neurodegenerative disorders …

HIV infection confers an increased concurrent risk of MA-associated disability, particularly among HIV-infected persons without histories of immune compromise. Directed referrals, earlier HIV treatment, and compensatory strategies aimed at counteracting the effects of low cognitive reserve, neurocog …

Psychomotor stimulants such as methamphetamine (METH), amphetamine, and 3,4-metylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) are potent addictive drugs. While it is known that their abuse could result in adverse health complications, including neurotoxicity, both the environmental conditions and activ …

Tat is a major regulatory protein encoded by human immunodeficiency viral genome, which has been implicated in the pathogenesis of HIV infection, including neurologic complications associated with this disease. In addition, drug abuse has been identified as a major risk factor of HIV infection. We h …

Biosynthesis and metabolism of endothelium-derived nitric oxide