NEUROTOXICITY OF AMPHETAMINES AND RELATED STIMULANTS

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This single year application for an R13 Conference Grant is seeking partial support for a conference entitled "The Neurotoxicity of Amphetamines and Related Stimulants". The meeting will be held from 16-17 April, 1999, just prior to and in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 99 meeting (EB99) in Washington, DC. Sponsorship and partial support for this conference is also being sought through ASPET, one of six participating societies in the EB99 meeting. This conference will include 16 comprehensive presentations by leading investigators in the field, and the participants will be drawn from neurochemists, neuropharmacologists, toxicologists, molecular biologists, cell biologists, and clinicians with interest in drug abuse. The goals of the conference are four- fold 1) to bring together the leading investigators in the field for a presentation of their latest findings on the amphetamine neurotoxins, 2) to stimulate integrative discussions among speakers and attendees regarding the toxic mechanisms of action of these drugs of abuse at the cellular and molecular level; 3) to publish a state-of-the-art treatise in the form of an edited book to maximize dissemination of the scientific material presented at the conference; and 4) to serve the public need for increased scientific research into the problems associated with abuse of neurotoxic amphetamines such as methamphetamine and MDMA (Ecstacy). The topics to be covered include a comprehensive overview of amphetamine neurotoxicity and pharmacology, drug effects on the developing brain, neurotransmitter systems and mitochondrial energy status as determinants of amphetamine toxicity, the roles of reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, quinones, and quinoproteins in neuronal damage, and long-term consequences of amphetamine abuse in humans. Poster sessions, round-table discussions, and publication of a book and journal summary article will maximize dissemination of the latest developments in this important aspect of drug abuse to the field at large.