Decreased dopamine activity predicts relapse in methamphetamine abusers

Adult Male positron emission tomography Time Factors Dopamine Biological Psychology Amphetamine-Related Disorders Clinical sciences Medical and Health Sciences Article Clinical and health psychology Methamphetamine Substance Misuse 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Clinical Research Recurrence Receptors Dopamine D2 Psychology Humans Carbon Radioisotopes methamphetamine relapse Psychiatry Biomedical and Clinical Sciences Receptors, Dopamine D2 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Neurosciences early withdrawal Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences Biological Sciences Corpus Striatum Brain Disorders 3. Good health Good Health and Well Being Raclopride Case-Control Studies Positron-Emission Tomography Methylphenidate dopamine release Biological psychology Mental health Female Drug Abuse (NIDA only)
DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.86 Publication Date: 2011-07-12T08:17:21Z
ABSTRACT
Studies in methamphetamine (METH) abusers showed that the decreases in brain dopamine (DA) function might recover with protracted detoxification. However, the extent to which striatal DA function in METH predicts recovery has not been evaluated. Here we assessed whether striatal DA activity in METH abusers is associated with clinical outcomes. Brain DA D2 receptor (D2R) availability was measured with positron emission tomography and [(11)C]raclopride in 16 METH abusers, both after placebo and after challenge with 60 mg oral methylphenidate (MPH) (to measure DA release) to assess whether it predicted clinical outcomes. For this purpose, METH abusers were tested within 6 months of last METH use and then followed up for 9 months of abstinence. In parallel, 15 healthy controls were tested. METH abusers had lower D2R availability in caudate than in controls. Both METH abusers and controls showed decreased striatal D2R availability after MPH and these decreases were smaller in METH than in controls in left putamen. The six METH abusers who relapsed during the follow-up period had lower D2R availability in dorsal striatum than in controls, and had no D2R changes after MPH challenge. The 10 METH abusers who completed detoxification did not differ from controls neither in striatal D2R availability nor in MPH-induced striatal DA changes. These results provide preliminary evidence that low striatal DA function in METH abusers is associated with a greater likelihood of relapse during treatment. Detection of the extent of DA dysfunction may be helpful in predicting therapeutic outcomes.
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