*Molecular Neuropsychiatry Section, NIHI NIDA/ Division of Intramural Research, Baltimore, Maryland and;†Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
Abstract:
1. Inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) formation or ADP-ribosylation attenuate methamphetamine (METH)- and methyl-enedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA)-induced neurotoxicity on dopaminergic and serotonergic cells in primary cultures. 2. They also prevent METH-induced reactive gliosis in dopaminergic cultures. 3. Overexpression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in cells obtained from SOD-transgenic mice also attenuates drug-induced toxicity. 4. These data indicate a role for oxygen-based and NO free radicals in the mechanisms of cell death associated with drugs of abuse in vitro.