Posted by lars1 on February 4, 2005, at 4:01:00
In reply to Re: Psychostimulant Neurotoxicity, posted by banga on February 3, 2005, at 23:35:48
Hi banga,
I'm interested in that question, too, and am hoping that others will reply. There have been studies showing that a variety of antioxidants can prevent amphetamine neurotoxicity in animals. N-acetyl-L-cysteine was discussed in a thread (http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050108/msgs/439943.html) that you have probably seen. I've pasted an abstract of another study below. Interestingly, one of the substances tested was ethanol. I never knew that vodka was an antioxidant! Unfortunately, in most of these studies, the antioxidant doses have been very large, so large that they might themselves be toxic. In the case of ethanol, the dose was the equivalent of several drinks for a human. Even vitamin E might not be safe; some studies have found increased death rates with vitamin E supplementation in humans. On the other hand, one of the abstracts on N-acetyl-L-cysteine claims that as little as 1 mg/kg had some benefit. (By way of comparison, the N-acetyl-L-cysteine tabs sold at my local natural food store are 600 mg.)
With best regards,
LarsNeuropharmacology. 1989 Oct;28(10):1145-50.
Methamphetamine-induced neuronal damage: a possible role for free radicals.
De Vito MJ, Wagner GC.
Department of Toxicology, Rutgers, State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.
The hypothesis that methamphetamine-induced neuronal damage is mediated by the production of free radicals was evaluated by pretreating rats with either antioxidants or a superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibitor. It was found that methamphetamine (dose range 6.25-25.0 mg/kg) caused long-lasting depletions of dopamine and serotonin in the striatum and that pretreatment with the antioxidants, ascorbic acid (10-100 mg/kg), ethanol (1 g/kg), mannitol (2 g/kg), or vitamin E (2 g/kg), attenuated these depletions, whereas pretreatment with the superoxide dismutase inhibitor diethyldithiocarbamate (200-400 mg/kg) exacerbated the depletions. The alteration of this effect by four different antioxidants, as well as an inhibitor of superoxidase dismutase, indicated that oxygen-free radicals may have a role in the methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity.
poster:lars1
thread:441645
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050202/msgs/452974.html