engleski

Amphetamine-like stimulants reduce cell viability of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line

Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are designer drugs that stimulate the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin and/or inhibit their reuptake (1). While ”old stimulants“, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, and 3, 4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) continue to be used, novel designer drugs with similar psychotropic effects (e.g. mephedrone) have been placed on the market (2). Research on ATS usually focuses on the mode of action, with limited attention to mechanisms concerning cytotoxic effects. The aim of our research was to determine viability of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells exposed to different concentrations of selected ATS. SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to a wide concentration range of ATS (0.039 – 100 μM) for 24 h and cell viability was determined by the colorimetric MTS assay (3). As results indicate, tested ATS caused a significant concentration- dependent decrease in cell viability up to 25% compared to the control. . It was observed that MDMA already influenced the viability at the concentration of 0.078 μM. After 24 h exposure, the order of toxic potencies was observed as following: MDMA > metamphetamine > amphetamine > mephedrone. In conclusion, mephedrone’s cytotoxicity appeared to be lower than that of classical ATS. Further studies are needed to investigate mechanisms of cytotoxicity of tested psychoactive substances in detail. Funding: This research was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation, grant number HrZZ- UIP-2017-05-7260 and the programme of cooperation between the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (Zagreb, Croatia) and the University North (Varaždin, Croatia).

amphetamines ; mephedrone ; cell viability ; SH-SY5Y ; MTS

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