These results provide evidence that methamphetamine at dose levels taken by human abusers of the drug leads to dopamine transporter reduction that is associated with motor and cognitive impairment. These results emphasize the urgency of alerting clinicians and the public of the long-term changes that methamphetamine can induce in the human brain.

Methamphetamine is a popular drug of abuse that is neurotoxic to dopamine (DA) terminals when administered to laboratory animals. Studies in methamphetamine abusers have also documented significant loss of DA transporters (used as markers of the DA terminal) that are associated with slower motor function and decreased memory. The extent to which the loss of DA transporters predisposes methamphetamine abusers to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsonism is unclear and may depend in part on the degree of recovery. Here we assessed the effects of protracted abstinence on the loss of DA transporters in striatum, in methamphetamine abusers using positron emission tomography and [(11)C]d-threo-methylphenidate (DA transporter radioligand). Brain DA transporters in five methamphetamine abusers evaluated during short abstinence (<6 months) and then retested during protracted abstinence (12-17 months) showed significant increases with protracted abstinence (caudate, +19%; putamen, +16%). Although performance in some of the tests for which we observed an association with DA transporters showed some improvement, this effect was not significant. The DA transporter increases with abstinence could indicate that methamphetamine-induced DA transporter loss reflects temporary adaptive changes (i.e., downregulation), that the loss reflects DA terminal damage but that terminals can recover, or that remaining viable terminals increase synaptic arborization. Because neuropsychological tests did not improve to the same extent, this suggests that the increase of the DA transporters was not sufficient for complete function recovery. These findings have treatment implications because they suggest that protracted abstinence may reverse some of methamphetamine-induced alterations in brain DA terminals.

Dopamine's role in inhibitory control is well recognized and its disruption may contribute to behavioral disorders of discontrol such as obesity. However, the mechanism by which impaired dopamine neurotransmission interferes with inhibitory control is poorly understood. We had previously documented a reduction in dopamine D2 receptors in morbidly obese subjects. To assess if the reductions in dopamine D2 receptors were associated with activity in prefrontal brain regions implicated in inhibitory control we assessed the relationship between dopamine D2 receptor availability in striatum with brain glucose metabolism (marker of brain function) in ten morbidly obese subjects (BMI>40 kg/m 2 ) and compared it to that in twelve non-obese controls. PET was used with [ 11 C]raclopride to assess D2 receptors and with [ 18 F] FDG to assess regional brain glucose metabolism. In obese subjects striatal D2 receptor availability was lower than controls and was positively correlated with metabolism in dorsolateral prefrontal, medial orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate gyrus and somatosensory cortices. In controls correlations with prefrontal metabolism were not significant but comparisons with those in obese subjects were not significant, which does not permit to ascribe the associations as unique to obesity. The associations between striatal D2 receptors and prefrontal metabolism in obese subjects suggest that decreases in striatal D2 receptors could contribute to overeating via their modulation of striatal prefrontal pathways, which participate in inhibitory control and salience attribution. The association between striatal D2 receptors and metabolism in somatosensory cortices (regions that process palatability) could underlie one of the mechanisms through which dopamine regulates the reinforcing properties of food. KeywordsOrbitofrontal cortex; Cingulate gyrus; Dorsolateral prefrontal; Dopamine transporters; Raclopride, PET The increase in obesity and associated metabolic diseases seen over the past decade has raised concern that if not controlled this may become the number one preventable public health threat for the 21st century (Sturm, 2002 (Berthoud, 2007). The extent to which individuals differ in their ability to inhibit these responses and control how much they eat is likely to modulate their risk for overeating in our current food rich environments (Berthoud, 2007).We had shown that in healthy individuals D2 receptor availability in the striatum modulated eating behavioral patterns (Volkow et al., 2003). Specifically the tendency to eat when exposed to negative emotions was negatively correlated with D2 receptor availability (the lower the D2 receptors the higher the likelihood that an individual would eat if emotionally stressed). In addition, in a different study, we showed that morbidly obese subjects (BMI>40) had lower than normal D2 receptor availability and these reductions were proportional to their BMI (Wang et al., 2001). These findings led us to postulate that low D2 receptor availability could put an...

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is the most commonly prescribed psychoactive drug in children for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet the mechanisms responsible for its therapeutic effects are poorly understood. Whereas methylphenidate blocks the dopamine transporter (main mechanism for removal of extracellular dopamine), it is unclear whether at doses used therapeutically it significantly changes extracellular dopamine (DA) concentration. Here we used positron emission tomography and [(11)C]raclopride (D2 receptor radioligand that competes with endogenous DA for binding to the receptor) to evaluate whether oral methylphenidate changes extracellular DA in the human brain in 11 healthy controls. We showed that oral methylphenidate (average dose 0.8 +/- 0.11 mg/kg) significantly increased extracellular DA in brain, as evidenced by a significant reduction in B(max)/K(d) (measure of D2 receptor availability) in striatum (20 +/- 12%; p < 0.0005). These results provide direct evidence that oral methylphenidate at doses within the therapeutic range significantly increases extracellular DA in human brain. This result coupled with recent findings of increased dopamine transporters in ADHD patients (which is expected to result in reductions in extracellular DA) provides a mechanistic framework for the therapeutic efficacy of methylphenidate. The increase in DA caused by the blockade of dopamine transporters by methylphenidate predominantly reflects an amplification of spontaneously released DA, which in turn is responsive to environmental stimulation. Because DA decreases background firing rates and increases signal-to-noise in target neurons, we postulate that the amplification of weak DA signals in subjects with ADHD by methylphenidate would enhance task-specific signaling, improving attention and decreasing distractibility. Alternatively methylphenidate-induced increases in DA, a neurotransmitter involved with motivation and reward, could enhance the salience of the task facilitating the "interest that it elicits" and thus improving performance.

It has been hypothesized that ethanol's actions on the dopamine (DA) system may participate in addiction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the DA system in the brain of alcoholics. We evaluated 10 alcoholics and 17 nonalcoholics using positron emission tomography and [11C]raclopride to measure DA D2 receptors. In addition, in 5 of the alcoholics and 16 of the nonalcoholics, we also measured DA transporters with [11C]d-threo methylphenidate. The ratio of the distribution volumes in striatum to that in cerebellum, which corresponds to Bmax/Kd + 1, was used as model parameter of DA D2 receptor and transporter availability. Dopamine D2 receptor availability (Bmax/Kd) was significantly lower in alcoholics (2.1 +/- 0.5) than in nonalcoholics (2.7 +/- 0.6) (p < 0.05) and was not correlated with days since last alcohol use. Alcoholics showed DA transporter values similar to those in nonalcoholics. The ratio of DA D2 receptor to transporter availability was significantly higher in nonalcoholics (1.4 +/- 0.1) than in alcoholics (1.1 +/- 0.1) (p < 0.005). Alcoholics showed significant reductions in D2 receptors (postsynaptic marker) but not in DA transporter availability (presynaptic marker) when compared with nonalcoholics. Because D2 receptors in striatum are mainly localized in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) cells these results provide evidence of GABAergic involvement in the dopaminergic abnormalities seen in alcoholics.

The drive for food is one of the most powerful of human and animal behaviors. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved with motivation and reward, its believed to regulate food intake in laboratory animals by modulating its rewarding effects through the nucleus accumbens (NA). Here we assess the involvement of dopamine in "nonhedonic" food motivation in humans. Changes in extracellular dopamine in striatum in response to nonhedonic food stimulation (display of food without consumption) were evaluated in 10 food-deprived subjects (16-20 h) using positron emission tomography (PET) and [11C]raclopride (a D2 receptor radioligand that competes with endogenous dopamine for binding to the receptor). To amplify the dopamine changes we pretreated subjects with methylphenidate (20 mg p.o.), a drug that blocks dopamine transporters (mechanism for removal of extracellular dopamine). Although the food stimulation when preceded by placebo did not increase dopamine or the desire for food, the food stimulation when preceded by methylphenidate (20 mg p.o.) did. The increases in extracellular dopamine were significant in dorsal (P < 0.005) but not in ventral striatum (area that included NA) and were significantly correlated with the increases in self-reports of hunger and desire for food (P < 0.01). These results provide the first evidence that dopamine in the dorsal striatum is involved in food motivation in humans that is distinct from its role in regulating reward through the NA. In addition it demonstrates the ability of methylphenidate to amplify weak dopamine signals.

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Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by tics, sensorimotor gating deficiencies, and abnormalities of cortico-basal ganglia circuits. A mutation in histidine decarboxylase (Hdc), the key enzyme for the biosynthesis of histamine (HA), has been implicated as a rare genetic cause. Hdc knockout mice exhibited potentiated tic-like stereotypies, recapitulating core phenomenology of TS; these were mitigated by the dopamine D2 antagonist haloperidol, a proven pharmacotherapy, and by HA infusion into the brain. Prepulse inhibition was impaired in both mice and humans carrying Hdc mutations. HA infusion reduced striatal dopamine (DA) levels; in Hdc knockout mice, striatal DA was increased and the DA-regulated immediate early gene Fos was upregulated. Dopamine D2/D3 receptor binding was altered both in mice and in humans carrying the Hdc mutation. These data confirm HDC deficiency as a rare cause of TS and identify histamine-dopamine interactions in the basal ganglia as an important locus of pathology.