Common Treatment For Meth Overdose May Damage Brain

Science Daily — A common antipsychotic drug used in emergency rooms to treat methamphetamine overdose damages nerve cells in an area of the brain known to regulate movement, a new study shows.

The findings, derived from experiments with rats, indicate that only the combination of the medication, haloperidol, and methamphetamine causes the destructive effects, not either one alone. Senior author Bryan Yamamoto, PhD, and his team at Boston University School of Medicine suspect the damage results from the exaggerated stimulation of cells by the amino acid glutamate, which proves toxic to cells producing the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Their results are published in the May 30 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

"This work in laboratory animals raises immediate concerns that a standard treatment for methamphetamine overdose in humans might worsen drug abuse-related brain injuries," says William Carlezon, PhD, at Harvard's McLean Hospital, who was not affiliated with the study. "A crucial next step is to determine how atypical antipsychotic medications would affect methamphetamine toxicity in the same model."Science Daily