A comparison of the physiological, behavioral, neurochemical and microglial effects of methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in the mouse.

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methamphetamine (METH) are amphetamine analogues with similar persistent neurochemical effects in the mouse which some have described as neurotoxicity. We attempted to identify dose regimens of MDMA and METH with similar effects on behavioral and physiological variables in the mouse, then quantified the effects of these dose regimens on neurochemistry and microglial markers. Four discrete injections of saline, MDMA (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg), or METH (5 or 10 mg/kg) were administered to mice at 2 h intervals. Body weight was quantified immediately before each injection, and 2 h after the last injection, while core temperature and locomotor activity were continuously monitored via radiotelemetry. Mice were killed 72 h after the final injection and brains were rapidly dissected on ice. Dopamine content in various brain regions was quantified via high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and microglial activation was assessed by saturation binding of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) ligand 1-(2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methylpropyl)-3-isoquinoline carboxamide ([(3)H]PK11195). Specific dose regimens of MDMA and METH induced similar reductions in body weight, depletions of dopamine and its metabolites, and similar hyperthermic and locomotor stimulant effects, but only METH activated microglia in striatum. These results suggest that repeated high doses of MDMA and METH that produce hyperthermia, locomotor stereotypy, weight loss and neurochemical depletion are not consistently accompanied by microglial activation. The finding that METH, but not MDMA, induces microglial effects in the striatum consistent with neurotoxicity might imply different mechanisms of toxic action for these two psychostimulants.