Chloral hydrate anesthesia antagonizes the neurotoxicity of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine

Eur J Pharmacol. 1990 Nov 27;191(2):213-6. doi: 10.1016/0014-2999(90)94149-r.

Abstract

We report that maintaining rats under chloral hydrate anesthesia for the first 3 h following the administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) blocks the decrease in forebrain concentrations of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) measured 1 week later. In contrast, the acute effect of MDMA (3 h) on forebrain 5-HT was not altered by the anesthetic. This protective effect of chloral hydrate was not due to an anesthetic-induced hypothermia but may be related to the hypothesized role of dopamine in the neurotoxic effects of MDMA.

MeSH terms

  • 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine / analogs & derivatives*
  • 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine / antagonists & inhibitors
  • 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine / toxicity
  • Anesthesia*
  • Animals
  • Cerebral Cortex / cytology
  • Cerebral Cortex / drug effects*
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
  • Chloral Hydrate / pharmacology*
  • Hippocampus / cytology
  • Hippocampus / drug effects*
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Male
  • N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
  • Premedication
  • Rats
  • Rats, Inbred Strains
  • Serotonin / metabolism*

Substances

  • Serotonin
  • Chloral Hydrate
  • 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine
  • N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine