Possible Interaction: Methamphetamine and N-Acetylaspartate

“In left insula, N-acetyl-aspartate+N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate was 9.1% higher in methamphetamine users than controls.”

“Results In right inferior frontal cortex, N-acetyl-aspartate+N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate correlated with years of heavy methamphetamine use (r = +0.45); glutamate+glutamine was lower in methamphetamine users than in controls (9.3%) and correlated negatively with depressive symptoms (r = -0.44).”

“Interestingly, early onset of MA use, as compared to late onset, was related to both lower NAA levels in the ACC (t = −2.24, P = 0.03) as well as lower performance on interference measure of the Stroop color–word task (t = 2.25, P = 0.03).”

“BACKGROUND Methamphetamine MA ) use has been shown to decrease n-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), a marker of neuronal integrity and viability, on (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS).”

“Additionally, in MA abusers NAA concentrations in frontal white matter correlated inversely with the cumulative MA dose.”

“However, frontal gray matter NAA concentrations for MA abusers correlated negatively with the total cumulative MA dose and positively with the duration of abstinence.”

“Compared to the mean concentrations of metabolites in … mean concentrations in subjects with HIV and chronic methamphetamine use … N-acetylaspartate in all three regions (-9% in the basal ganglia, -7% in the frontal white matter, … the basal ganglia (-7%), and on myo-inositol in the frontal white matter (+11%).”

“Results: The concentration of N-acetylaspartate ([NA]), a neuronal marker, was reduced significantly (−5 to −6%) in the basal ganglia and frontal white matter of methamphetamine users compared with control subjects.”

“Nat8l+/− mice also showed atypical locomotor responses to methamphetamine administration, suggesting that NAA is involved in modulating the hyperactivity effect of methamphetamine.”