Legal Medicine Studies on Sudden Death of Abusers of Methamphetamine.
| Project/Area Number |
60480199
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Legal medicine
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| Research Institution | Hyogo College of Medicine |
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Principal Investigator |
HISHIDA Shigeru Department of Legal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, 医学部, 教授 (10068463)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TANIGUCHI Tadaaki Department of Legal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, 医学部, 助手 (80155209)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1985 – 1986
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1986)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥5,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,500,000)
Fiscal Year 1986: ¥300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 1985: ¥5,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,200,000)
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| Keywords | Methamphetamine / Methamphetamine abusers / Sudden death / Norepinephrine / Dopamine / セロトニン / エタノール |
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| Research Abstract |
Many human methamphetamine(MA) abusers die suddenly after MA injection following an abrupt occurrence of mental abnormalities. Measurement of MA concentration in the blood and each organ revealed results different from those in death due to an acute overdose of MA. The direct cause of death in such cases therefore presents problems. In an attempt to clarify the mechanism of this phenomenon, MA was administered to rats to study the distribution of MA in vivo along with the changes of the concentrations of norepinephrine(NE), dopamine(DA) and serotonin(5-HT) in the brain. The relathionship between various symptoms appearing after MA administration was then elucidated. In rats which died suddenly after MA administration, an abnormal increase of heart rate and an abrupt rise in body temperature was noted immediately before death. The former was suggested to be related to changes of NE in the brain, whereas the latter with 5-HT in the brain. Various abnormal behaviors of rats after MA admin
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istration showed no correlation with MA concentration in the body of the rats.
Rather, it was shown to be related to changes of NE or DA in the brain. When MA was chronically administered to rats, catecholamine concentrations in the brain measured at certain intervals showed characteristic changes to be distinguished from those in rats which died of acute MA toxicity. In human habitual alcohol drinkers, on the other hand, the incidence of abnormal pyschoses was shown to be statistically higher during MA abuse. When MA was administered to rats with and without high ethanol preference, ethanol preference changed after MA administration in the former. The incidence of abnormal behavior after MA administration was also different between these two groups. Such a difference in response was apparently related to the difference in the original catecholamine concentration in the brain between these two groups. According to these results, we conclude that one of the causes of the appearance of various mental abnormalities in human MA abusers and subsequent sudden death is the abnormal changes of catecholamine concentration in the brain before and after MA administration.
This is perhaps influencing the heart and other parts of the circulatory system. Less
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Report
(1 results)
Research Products
(8 results)
