TY  - JOUR
AU  - Todd, Gabrielle
AU  - Noyes, Carolyn
AU  - Flavel, Stanley C
AU  - Della Vedova, Chris B
AU  - Spyropoulos, Peter
AU  - Chatterton, Barry
AU  - Berg, Daniela
AU  - White, Jason M
TI  - Illicit stimulant use is associated with abnormal substantia nigra morphology in humans.
JO  - PLOS ONE
VL  - 8
IS  - 2
SN  - 1932-6203
CY  - San Francisco, California, US
PB  - PLOS
M1  - DZNE-2020-03152
SP  - e56438
PY  - 2013
AB  - Use of illicit stimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy is an increasing health problem. Chronic use can cause neurotoxicity in animals and humans but the long-term consequences are not well understood. The aim of the current study was to investigate the long-term effect of stimulant use on the morphology of the human substantia nigra. We hypothesised that history of illicit stimulant use is associated with an abnormally bright and enlarged substantia nigra (termed ‘hyperechogenicity’) when viewed with transcranial sonography. Substantia nigra morphology was assessed in abstinent stimulant users (n = 36; 31±9 yrs) and in two groups of control subjects: non-drug users (n = 29; 24±5 yrs) and cannabis users (n = 12; 25±7 yrs). Substantia nigra morphology was viewed with transcranial sonography and the area of echogenicity at the anatomical site of the substantia nigra was measured at its greatest extent. The area of substantia nigra echogenicity was significantly larger in the stimulant group (0.273±0.078 cm2) than in the control (0.201±0.054 cm2; P<0.001) and cannabis (0.202±0.045 cm2; P<0.007) groups. 53
KW  - Adolescent
KW  - Adult
KW  - Central Nervous System Stimulants: poisoning
KW  - Cocaine: poisoning
KW  - Drug Users
KW  - Humans
KW  - Methamphetamine: poisoning
KW  - Middle Aged
KW  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine: poisoning
KW  - Reproducibility of Results
KW  - Substantia Nigra: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Substantia Nigra: drug effects
KW  - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW  - Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial: methods
KW  - Young Adult
KW  - Central Nervous System Stimulants (NLM Chemicals)
KW  - Methamphetamine (NLM Chemicals)
KW  - Cocaine (NLM Chemicals)
KW  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (NLM Chemicals)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:23418568
C2  - pmc:PMC3572078
DO  - DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0056438
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/136830
ER  -