the_integerian
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 112
I am thinking about trying x for the first time. I take 100 mg of L-dopa every morning (from Mucuna Pruriens extract). Will the L-dopa effect my extacy experience in any way?
Don't take L-Dopa before mdma.
phenylalanine > Tyrosine > L-DOPA > Dopamine
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/1/290.full.pdf
The specific mechanisms underlying ()-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-induced damage to 5-HT terminals are unknown. Despite the hypothesized role for dopamine (DA) and DA-derived free radicals in mediating this damage, it remains unclear why
MDMA produces long-term depletions of 5-HT in brain regions that are sparsely innervated by DA neurons. We hypothesized that the
precursor to DA biosynthesis, tyrosine, mediates MDMA-induced 5-HT depletions. Extracellular tyrosine concentrations increased
fivefold in striatum and 2.5-fold in hippocampus during the administration of neurotoxic doses of MDMA. In vitro results show that
L-tyrosine can be hydroxylated nonenzymatically to the DA precursor L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) under pro-oxidant conditions. The local infusion of L-tyrosine into the striatum or hippocampus during MDMA administration potentiated the acute increase in
extracellular DA and the long-term depletion of 5-HT after MDMA. Coinfusion of the aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC)
inhibitor m-hydroxybenzylhydrazine attenuated these effects in hippocampus and decreased basal extracellular DA in the striatum. In
contrast, the reverse dialysis of the tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor -methyl-p-tyrosine into the hippocampus did not affect MDMAinduced increases in extracellular DA or the long-term depletion in 5-HT. These results show that MDMA increases the concentration of tyrosine in the brain to cause a long-term depletion of 5-HT via the nonenzymatic, tyrosine hydroxylase-independent, hydroxylation of tyrosine to DOPA and subsequently to DA via AADC. Overall, the findings suggest that MDMA depletes 5-HT by increasing tyrosine and its eventual conversion to DA within 5-HT terminals