Brain cell damage caused by methamphetamine use is still evident long after drug abuse has stopped, a new study has revealed (Neurology 2000;54:1344). Researchers from the Harbor-UCLA Research and Education Institute in California assessed certain metabolite or chemical levels in the brains of 26 previous methamphetamine abusers and 24 healthy subjects with no history of drug abuse, to check for injury to brain cells. The study found that concentrations of N-acetyl-aspartate were reduced by 5 per cent in the basal ganglia region and by 6 per cent in the brain's frontal white matter in the methamphetamine users who had not used the drug for between two weeks and 21 months.
Many diseases associated with neuronal damage have shown reduced N-acetyl-aspartate, notes the study author. "The reduced concentration of N-acetyl-aspartate in the drug users' brains suggests neuronal loss or damage as a result of long-term methamphetamine use."
The study did not determine whether these changes are permanent.