- LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists
in the United States have identified a key protein involved in one of the
most lethal side effects of the popular but illegal drug ecstasy.
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- Most ecstasy-related deaths are caused by an increase
in body temperature, or hyperthermia, which leads to organ failure.
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- Researchers at Ohio Northern University and the National
Institutes of Health (<ht(NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland have discovered
that mice lacking a protein called UCP-3 manage to stay cool even after
they were injected with the drug which is known chemically as MDMA.
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- "UCP-3 protein is involved in the thermogenesis
induced by ecstasy," Jon Sprague, a pharmacologist at Ohio Northern
University, said in an interview.
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- Knowing what the protein does opens up therapeutic options
and could help to explain why some people who take ecstasy get very hot
and others don't, he added.
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- Sprague, Edward Mills at the NIH and their colleagues,
who reported their finding in the science journal Nature on Wednesday,
believe that the finding could lead to a way to deactivate the protein
and prevent the body from overheating.
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- "We are currently looking at what drugs could be
used that have potential therapeutic options in treating that hyperthermia
based on the protein involved," Sprague explained.
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- How MDMA, which is popular at all-night dance parties
and is said to heighten awareness, intensify emotion and make people feel
good, induces hyperthermia or why some people react differently than others,
is unknown.
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- Most deaths linked to the drug result from the body overheating
which leads to the breakdown of skeletal muscle and the failure of the
kidneys and other organs.
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- "The drug causes the hyperthermia and then you couple
it with the fact that it is involved in this dance culture -- that is why
you see the problems you see," Sprague explained.
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- UCP-3 is found in skeletal muscle, which the researchers
say may play a role in regulating body temperature.
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- If a drug is found or developed which can interfere with
the protein, Sprague said it could potentially be given to reduce the very
high body temperatures caused by using the drug.
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- The use of ecstasy had increased by 70 percent between
1995 and 2000, according to a United Nations report. Ecstasy and amphetamines
have overtaken heroin and cocaine as the fastest growing global narcotics
menace.
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