METHAMPHETAMINE EFFECTS IN BRAIN DOPAMINE ACTIVITY

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。本研究拟对成人进行甲基苯丙胺早期戒断期（bb0 ~ 2周<3个月）和6 ~ 9个月后的PET成像研究。PET成像将在纽约的布鲁克海文国家实验室进行，由诺拉·沃洛博士指导。甲基苯丙胺在美国东部并不是一种普遍滥用的药物，因此，40名受试者的招募将在洛杉矶的港湾-加州大学洛杉矶分校和俄勒冈州的波特兰进行，那里的甲基苯丙胺滥用是一个严重的问题。正常对照组将不会在港-加州大学洛杉矶分校招募。受试者将被招募，筛选，同意，然后飞往纽约进行神经成像研究。该项目是由NIH/NIDA RO1拨款（布鲁克海文国家实验室分包合同）于1997年10月1日至11月30日在Harbor-UCLA进行的先前工作的延伸。目前可行的假设是：1)滥用冰毒的人除了失去数据外，还会降低DA细胞的功能。2)解毒会导致DA细胞功能和DAT水平的增加。评估甲基苯丙胺滥用者的DA细胞功能是否被破坏是很重要的，因为它可能使甲基苯丙胺的使用长期存在，作为暂时补偿这种功能障碍的手段。为了了解甲基苯丙胺滥用者的DAT损失与他们易患神经生成疾病（即帕金森病）的长期后果，确定它是否会随着解毒而恢复也是相关的。这些知识应该有助于指导对冰毒滥用者的管理和可能有助于改善DA缺陷的药物的开发。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This study proposed to study methamphetamine using adults using PET imaging during early withdrawal (>2 weeks and <3 months) and again 6-9 months later. The PET imaging will be conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratories in New York under the direction of Dr. Nora Vollow. Methamphetamine is not a drug commonly abused in the eastern U.S. Hence, recruiting for the 40 subjects will occur in Los Angeles at Harbor-UCLA and Portland, Oregon where methamphetamine abuse is a significant problem. Normal controls will not be recruited at the Harbor-UCLA site. The subjects will be recruited, screened, consented and then flown to New York for the neuroimaging studies. This project is an extension to previous work conducted at Harbor-UCLA funded by an NIH/NIDA RO1 grant (Brookhaven National Laboratory Subcontract), 10/01/97-11/30/00. The working hypotheses are: 1) METH abusers will have decreased function of DA cells in addition to the loss of DAT. 2) Detoxification will result in an increase in DA cell function and in DAT levels. It is important to assess if there is disrupted DA cell function in METH abusers since it could perpetuate METH use as a means to temporarily compensate for this dysfunction. It is also of relevant to determine if it recovers with detoxification in order to understand the long-term consequences of DAT losses in the METH abusers vis-a-vis their vulnerability to neurogenerative diseases (i.e., Parkinson's disease). Such knowledge should help guide the management of the METH abuser and the development of medications that may help ameliorate the DA deficits.