METHAMPHETAMINE EFFECTS IN BRAIN DOPAMINE ACTIVITY

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。这项研究建议在戒断早期(2周和3个月)和6-9个月后再次使用PET成像来研究成人使用甲基苯丙胺。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常见的滥用药物。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。在港湾-加州大学洛杉矶分校的现场不会招募正常的控制员。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。这个项目是之前在港湾-加州大学洛杉矶分校进行的工作的延伸，由NIH/NIDA RO1赠款(布鲁克海文国家实验室分包合同)资助，10/01/97-11/30/00。工作假说是：1)冰毒滥用者除DAT丧失外，还会出现DA细胞功能下降。2)脱毒后DA细胞功能增强，DAT水平升高。重要的是评估冰毒滥用者是否存在DA细胞功能障碍，因为这可能使冰毒的使用永久化，作为一种暂时补偿这种功能障碍的手段。同样重要的是，确定脱毒后是否恢复，以便了解冰毒滥用者DAT缺失的长期后果与其易患神经生殖疾病(即帕金森氏病)的关系。这些知识应该有助于指导对冰毒滥用者的管理，以及可能有助于改善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.