Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Equivalent effects of acute tryptophan depletion on REM sleep in ecstasy users and controls

  • Original Investigation
  • Published:
Psychopharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

This study sought to test the association between 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine use, serotonergic function and sleep.

Materials and methods

Ambulatory polysomnography was used to measure three nights sleep in 12 ecstasy users and 12 controls after screening (no intervention), a tryptophan-free amino acid mixture (acute tryptophan depletion (ATD)) and a tryptophan-supplemented control mixture.

Results

ATD significantly decreased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep onset latency, increased the amount of REM sleep and increased the amount of stage 2 sleep in the first 3 h of sleep. There was no difference between ecstasy users’ and controls’ sleep on the screening night or after ATD.

Discussion

These findings imply that the ecstasy users had not suffered significant serotonergic damage as indexed by sleep.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali SF, Newport GD, Scallet AC, Binienda Z, Ferguson SA, Bailey JR, Paule MG, Slikker W Jr (1993) Oral administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces selective serotonergic depletion in the nonhuman primate. Neurotoxicol Teratol 15(2):91–96

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allen RP, McCann UD, Ricaurte GA (1993) Persistent effects of (+/−)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) on human sleep. Sleep 16(6):560–564

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allott K, Canny BJ, Broadbear JH, Stepto NK, Murphy B, Redman J (2008) Neuroendocrine and subjective responses to pharmacological challenge with citalopram: a controlled study in male and female ecstasy/MDMA users. J Psychopharmacol (in press)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bedi G, Redman J (2008) Ecstasy use and higher-level cognitive functions: weak effects of ecstasy after control for potential confounds. Psychol Med 38(9):1319–1330

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bedi G, Van Dam N, Redman J. (2008) Ecstasy (MDMA) and high prevalence psychiatric symptomatology: somatic anxiety symptoms are associated with polydrug, not ecstasy, use. J Psychopharmacol (in press)

  • Bhatti T, Gillin JC, Seifritz E, Moore P, Clark C, Golshan S, Stahl S, Rapaport M, Kelsoe J (1998) Effects of a tryptophan-free amino acid drink challenge on normal human sleep electroencephalogram and mood. Biol Psychiatry 43(1):52–59

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bjorvatn B, Fagerland S, Eid T, Ursin R (1997) Sleep/waking effects of a selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist given systemically as well as perfused in the dorsal raphe nucleus in rats. Brain Res 770(1–2):81–88

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Booij L, Van der Does W, Benkelfat C, Bremner JD, Cowen PJ, Fava M, Gillin C, Leyton M, Moore P, Smith KA, Van der Kloot WA (2002) Predictors of mood response to acute tryptophan depletion. A reanalysis. Neuropsychopharmacology 27(5):852–861

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Braun AR, Balkin TJ, Wesensten NJ, Gwadry F, Carson RE, Varga M, Baldwin P, Belenky G, Herscovitch P (1998) Dissociated pattern of activity in visual cortices and their projections during human rapid eye movement sleep. Science 279(5347):91–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchert R, Thomasius R, Wilke F, Petersen K, Nebeling B et al (2004) A voxel-based PET investigation of the long-term effects of “ecstasy” consumption on brain serotonin transporters. Am J Psychiatry 161(7):1181–1189

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF 3rd, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ (1989) The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res 28(2):193–213

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cano G, Mochizuki T, Saper CB (2008) Neural circuitry of stress-induced insomnia in rats. J Neurosci 28(40):10167–10184

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carhart-Harris RL, Nutt DJ, Munafo M, Wilson SJ (2009) Current and former ecstasy users report different sleep to matched controls: a web-based questionnaire study. J Psychopharmacol 23(3):249–257

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter LL, Anderson GM, Pelton GH, Gudin JA, Kirwin PD, Price LH, Heninger GR, McDougle CJ (1998) Tryptophan depletion during continuous CSF sampling in healthy human subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 19(1):26–35

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall J, Cooper JD, Phillipson OT (1990) Afferent and efferent connections of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus in the rat. Brain Res Bull 25(2):271–284

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Curran HV, Verheyden SL (2003) Altered response to tryptophan supplementation after long-term abstention from MDMA (ecstasy) is highly correlated with human memory function. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 169(1):91–103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daumann J Jr, Fischermann T, Heekeren K, Thron A, Gouzoulis-Mayfrank E (2004) Neural mechanisms of working memory in ecstasy (MDMA) users who continue or discontinue ecstasy and amphetamine use: evidence from an 18-month longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Biol Psychiatry 56(5):349–355

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado PL (2006) Monoamine depletion studies: implications for antidepressant discontinuation syndrome. J Clin Psychiatry 67(Suppl 4):22–26 (review)

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dughiero G, Schifano F, Forza G (2001) Personality dimensions and psychopathological profiles of ecstasy users. Hum Psychopharmacol 16(8):635–639

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durdle H, Lundahl LH, Johanson CE, Tancer M (2008) Major depression: the relative contribution of gender, MDMA, and cannabis use. Depress Anxiety 25(3):241–247

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellenbogen MA, Young SN, Dean P, Palmour RM, Benkelfat C (1996) Mood response to acute tryptophan depletion in healthy volunteers: sex differences and temporal stability. Neuropsychopharmacology 15(5):465–474

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans L, Golshan S, Kelsoe J, Rapaport M, Resovsky K, Sutton L, Gillin JC (2002) Effects of rapid tryptophan depletion on sleep electroencephalogram and mood in subjects with partially remitted depression on bupropion. Neuropsychopharmacology 27(6):1016–1026

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Farré M, Abanades S, Roset PN, Peiró AM, Torrens M, O’Mathúna B, Segura M, de la Torre R (2007) Pharmacological interaction between 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) and paroxetine: pharmacological effects and pharmacokinetics. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 323(3):954–962

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer C, Hatzidimitriou G, Wlos J, Katz J, Ricaurte G (1995) Reorganization of ascending 5-HT axon projections in animals previously exposed to the recreational drug (+/−)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”). J Neurosci 15(8):5476–5485

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hatzidimitriou G, McCann UD, Ricaurte GA (1999) Altered serotonin innervation patterns in the forebrain of monkeys treated with (+/−)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine seven years previously: factors influencing abnormal recovery. J Neurosci 19(12):5096–5107

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes PL, McQuaid JR, Kelsoe J, Rapaport M, Gillin JC (2004) Affective state and EEG sleep profile in response to rapid tryptophan depletion in recently recovered nonmedicated depressed individuals. J Affect Disord 83(2–3):253–262

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson JA (1992) Sleep and dreaming: induction and mediation of REM sleep by cholinergic mechanisms. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2(6):759–763 (review)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hood SD, Bell CJ, Nutt DJ (2005) Acute tryptophan depletion. Part I: rationale and methodology. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 39(7):558–564 Review

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoshi R, Cohen L, Lemanski L, Piccini P, Bond A, Curran HV (2007) Ecstasy (MDMA) does not have long-term effects on aggressive interpretative bias: a study comparing current and ex-ecstasy users with polydrug and drug-naive controls. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 15(4):351–358

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iber C, Redline S, Kaplan Gilpin AM, Quan SF, Zhang L, Gottlieb DJ, Rapoport D, Resnick HE, Sanders M, Smith P (2004) Polysomnography performed in the unattended home versus the attended laboratory setting—sleep heart health study methodology. Sleep 27:536–540

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Insel TR, Battaglia G, Johannessen JN, Marra S, De Souza EB (1989) 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“ecstasy”) selectively destroys brain serotonin terminals in rhesus monkeys. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 249(3):713–720

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jager G, de Win MM, van der Tweel I, Schilt T, Kahn RS, van den Brink W, van Ree JM, Ramsey NF (2008) Assessment of cognitive brain function in ecstasy users and contributions of other drugs of abuse: results from an FMRI study. Neuropsychopharmacology 33(2):247–258

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jans LA, Lieben CK, Blokland A (2007) Influence of sex and estrous cycle on the effects of acute tryptophan depletion induced by a gelatin-based mixture in adult Wistar rats. Neuroscience 147(2):304–317

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jouvet M (1999) Sleep and serotonin: an unfinished story. Neuropsychopharmacology 21(2):24S–27S

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kalechstein AD, De La Garza R II, Mahoney JJ III, Fantegrossi WE, Newton TF (2007) MDMA use and neurocognition: a meta-analytic review. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 189(4):531–537 (review)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirilly E, Molnar E, Balogh B, Kantor S, Hansson SR, Palkovits M, Bagdy G (2008) Decrease in REM latency and changes in sleep quality parallel serotonergic damage and recovery after MDMA: a longitudinal study over 180 days. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 11(6):795–809

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Landolt HP, Kelsoe JR, Rapaport MH, Gillin JC (2003) Rapid tryptophan depletion reverses phenelzine-induced suppression of REM sleep. J Sleep Res 12(1):13–18

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liechti ME, Baumann C, Gamma A, Vollenweider FX (2000a) Acute psychological effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) are attenuated by the serotonin uptake inhibitor citalopram. Neuropsychopharmacology 22(5):513–521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liechti ME, Saur MR, Gamma A, Hell D, Vollenweider FX (2000b) Psychological and physiological effects of MDMA (“ecstasy”) after pretreatment with the 5-HT(2) antagonist ketanserin in healthy humans. Neuropsychopharmacology 23(4):396–404 P

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu J, Sherman D, Devor M, Saper CB (2006) A putative flip-flop switch for control of REM sleep. Nature 441(7093):589–594

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luebke JI, Greene RW, Semba K, Kamondi A, McCarley RW, Reiner PB (1992) Serotonin hyperpolarizes cholinergic low-threshold burst neurons in the rat laterodorsal tegmental nucleus in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89(2):743–747

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maquet P, Péters J, Aerts J, Delfiore G, Degueldre C, Luxen A, Franck G (1996) Functional neuroanatomy of human rapid-eye-movement sleep and dreaming. Nature 383(6596):163–166

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, Ricaurte GA (2007) Effects of (+/−) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on sleep and circadian rhythms. Sci World J 2(7):231–238 (review)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, Szabo Z, Scheffel U, Dannals RF, Ricaurte GA (1998) Positron emission tomographic evidence of toxic effect of MDMA (“ecstasy”) on brain serotonin neurons in human beings. Lancet 352(9138):1433–1437

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, Szabo Z, Seckin E, Rosenblatt P, Mathews WB, Ravert HT, Dannals RF, Ricaurte GA (2005) Quantitative PET studies of the serotonin transporter in MDMA users and controls using [11C]McN5652 and [11C]DASB. Neuropsychopharmacology 30(9):1741–1750

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, Peterson SC, Ricaurte GA (2007) The effect of catecholamine depletion by alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine on measures of cognitive performance and sleep in abstinent MDMA users. Neuropsychopharmacology 32(8):1695–1706

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, Szabo Z, Vranesic M, Palermo M, Mathews WB, Ravert HT, Dannals RF, Ricaurte GA (2008) Positron emission tomographic studies of brain dopamine and serotonin transporters in abstinent (+/−)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“ecstasy”) users: relationship to cognitive performance. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 200(3):439–450

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McGinty DJ, Harper RM (1976) Dorsal raphe neurons: depression of firing during sleep in cats. Brain Res 101(3):569–575

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mechan A, Yuan J, Hatzidimitriou G, Irvine RJ, McCann UD, Ricaurte GA (2006) Pharmacokinetic profile of single and repeated oral doses of MDMA in squirrel monkeys: relationship to lasting effects on brain serotonin neurons. Neuropsychopharmacology 31(2):339–350

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medina KL, Shear PK (2007) Anxiety, depression, and behavioral symptoms of executive dysfunction in ecstasy users: contributions of polydrug use. Drug Alcohol Depend 87(2–3):303–311

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menkes DB, Coates DC, Fawcett JP (1994) Acute tryptophan depletion aggravates premenstrual syndrome. J Affect Disord 32(1):37–44

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Merens W, Willem Van der Does AJ, Spinhoven P (2007) The effects of serotonin manipulations on emotional information processing and mood. J Affect Disord 103(1–3):43–62

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer JS, Piper BJ, Vancollie VE (2008) Development and characterization of a novel animal model of intermittent MDMA (“ecstasy”) exposure during adolescence. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1139:151–163

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moja EA, Cipolla P, Castoldi D, Tofanetti O (1989) Dose-response decrease in plasma tryptophan and in brain tryptophan and serotonin after tryptophan-free amino acid mixtures in rats. Life Sci 44(14):971–976

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore P, Gillin C, Bhatti T, DeModena A, Seifritz E, Clark C, Stahl S, Rapaport M, Kelsoe J (1998) Rapid tryptophan depletion, sleep electroencephalogram, and mood in men with remitted depression on serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Arch Gen Psychiatry 55(6):534–539

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore P, Seifritz E, Schlosser A, Greenfield D, Stahl S, Rapaport M, Kelsoe J (2001) Rapid tryptophan depletion plus a serotonin 1A agonist: competing effects on sleep in healthy men. Neuropsychopharmacology 25(5 Suppl):S40–S44

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan MJ, McFie L, Fleetwood H, Robinson JA (2002) Ecstasy (MDMA): are the psychological problems associated with its use reversed by prolonged abstinence? Psychopharmacology (Berl) 159(3):294–303

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neckers LM, Biggio G, Moja E, Meek JL (1997) Modulation of brain tryptophan hydroxylase activity by brain tryptophan content. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 201(1):110–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumeister A (2003) Tryptophan depletion, serotonin, and depression: where do we stand? Psychopharmacol Bull 37(4):99–115 (review)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neumeister A, Hu XZ, Luckenbaugh DA, Schwarz M, Nugent AC, Bonne O, Herscovitch P, Goldman D, Drevets WC, Charney DS (2006) Differential effects of 5-HTTLPR genotypes on the behavioral and neural responses to tryptophan depletion in patients with major depression and controls. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63(9):978–986

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nishizawa S, Benkelfat C, Young SN, Leyton M, Mzengeza S, de Montigny C, Blier P, Diksic M (1997) Differences between males and females in rates of serotonin synthesis in human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 94(10):5308–5313

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parrott AC (2000) Human research on MDMA (3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine) neurotoxicity: cognitive and behavioural indices of change. Neuropsychobiology 42(1):17–24 (review)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parrott AC (2006) MDMA in humans: factors which affect the neuropsychobiological profiles of recreational ecstasy users, the integrative role of bioenergetic stress. J Psychopharmacol 20(2):147–163

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reay JL, Hamilton C, Kennedy DO, Scholey AB (2006) MDMA polydrug users show process-specific central executive impairments coupled with impaired social and emotional judgement processes. J Psychopharmacol 20(3):385–388

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rechtschaffen A, Kales A (1968) A manual of standarized terminology, techniques and scoring system for sleep stages in human subjects. US Government Printing Office

  • Reneman L, Booij J, de Bruin K, Reitsma JB, de Wolff FA, Gunning WB, den Heeten GJ, van den Brink W (2001) Effects of dose, sex, and long-term abstention from use on toxic effects of MDMA (ecstasy) on brain serotonin neurons. Lancet 358(9296):1864–1869

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ricaurte GA, McCann UD (1992) Neurotoxic amphetamine analogues: effects in monkeys and implications for humans. Ann N Y Acad Sci 648:371–382 Review

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ricaurte G, Bryan G, Strauss L, Seiden L, Schuster C (1985) Hallucinogenic amphetamine selectively destroys brain serotonin nerve terminals. Science 229(4717):986–988

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riedel WJ, Klaassen T, Schmitt JA (2002) Tryptophan, mood, and cognitive function. Brain Behav Immun 16(5):581–589 (review)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riemann D, Feige B, Hornyak M, Koch S, Hohagen F, Voderholzer U (2002) The tryptophan depletion test: impact on sleep in primary insomnia—a pilot study. Psychiatry Res 109(2):129–135

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roiser JP, Müller U, Clark L, Sahakian BJ (2006) The effects of acute tryptophan depletion and serotonin transporter polymorphism on emotional processing in memory and attention. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 10(4):449–461

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rubia K, Lee F, Cleare AJ, Tunstall N, Fu CH, Brammer M, McGuire P (2005) Tryptophan depletion reduces right inferior prefrontal activation during response inhibition in fast, event-related fMRI. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 179(4):791–803

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick G, Wall SC (1992) The molecular mechanism of “ecstasy” [3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA)]: serotonin transporters are targets for MDMA-induced serotonin release. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 89(5):1817–1821

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sabol KE, Lew R, Richards JB, Vosmer GL, Seiden LS (1996) Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-induced serotonin deficits are followed by partial recovery over a 52-week period. Part I: synaptosomal uptake and tissue concentrations. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 276(2):846–854

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saper CB, Chou TC, Scammell TE (2001) The sleep switch: hypothalamic control of sleep and wakefulness. Trends Neurosci 24(12):726–731

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scanzello CR, Hatzidimitriou G, Martello AL, Katz JL, Ricaurte GA (1993) Serotonergic recovery after (+/−)3,4-(methylenedioxy) methamphetamine injury: observations in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 264(3):1484–1491

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheffel U, Szabo Z, Mathews WB, Finley PA, Dannals RF, Ravert HT, Szabo K, Yuan J, Ricaurte GA (1998) In vivo detection of short- and long-term MDMA neurotoxicity—a positron emission tomography study in the living baboon brain. Synapse 29(2):183–192

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Selvaraj S, Hoshi R, Bhagwagar Z, Murthy NV, Hinz R, Cowen P, Curran HV, Grasby P (2009) Brain serotonin transporter binding in former users of MDMA (‘ecstasy’). Br J Psychiatry 194(4):355–359

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith KA, Fairburn CG, Cowen PJ (1997) Relapse of depression after rapid depletion of tryptophan. Lancet 349(9056):915–919

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumnall HR, Cole JC (2005) Self-reported depressive symptomatology in community samples of polysubstance misusers who report ecstasy use: a meta-analysis. J Psychopharmacol 19(1):84–92

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taffe MA, Huitrón-Resendiz S, Schroeder R, Parsons LH, Henriksen SJ, Gold LH (2003) MDMA exposure alters cognitive and electrophysiological sensitivity to rapid tryptophan depletion in rhesus monkeys. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 76(1):141–152

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tancer M, Johanson CE (2007) The effects of fluoxetine on the subjective and physiological effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in humans. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 189(4):565–573

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thakkar MM, Strecker RE, McCarley RW (1998) Behavioral state control through differential serotonergic inhibition in the mesopontine cholinergic nuclei: a simultaneous unit recording and microdialysis study. J Neurosci 18(14):5490–5497

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomasius R, Zapletalova P, Petersen K, Buchert R, Andresen B, Wartberg L, Nebeling B, Schmoldt A (2006) Mood, cognition and serotonin transporter availability in current and former ecstasy (MDMA) users: the longitudinal perspective. J Psychopharmacol 20(2):211–225 (review)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voderholzer U, Hornyak M, Thiel B, Huwig-Poppe C, Kiemen A, König A, Backhaus J, Riemann D, Berger M, Hohagen F (1998) Impact of experimentally induced serotonin deficiency by tryptophan depletion on sleep EEG in healthy subjects. Neuropsychopharmacology 18(2):112–124

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wehrle R, Kaufmann C, Wetter TC, Holsboer F, Auer DP, Pollmächer T, Czisch M (2007) Functional microstates within human REM sleep: first evidence from fMRI of a thalamocortical network specific for phasic REM periods. Eur J Neurosci 25(3):863–871

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weltzin TE, Fernstrom JD, McConaha C, Kaye WH (1994) Acute tryptophan depletion in bulimia: effects on large neutral amino acids. Biol Psychiatry 35(6):388–397

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams WA, Shoaf SE, Hommer D, Rawlings R, Linnoila M (1999) Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on plasma and cerebrospinal fluid tryptophan and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in normal volunteers. J Neurochem 72(4):1641–1647

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson S, Argyropoulos S (2005) Antidepressants and sleep: a qualitative review of the literature. Drugs 65(7):927–947 (review)

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SJ, Bailey JE, Rich AS, Adrover M, Potokar J, Nutt DJ (2004) Using sleep to evaluate comparative serotonergic effects of paroxetine and citalopram. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 14(5):367–372

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SJ, Bailey JE, Rich AS, Nash J, Adrover M, Tournoux A, Nutt DJ (2005) The use of sleep measures to compare a new 5HT1A agonist with buspirone in humans. J Psychopharmacol 19(6):609–613

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young SN, Smith SE, Pihl RO, Ervin FR (1985) Tryptophan depletion causes a rapid lowering of mood in normal males. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 87(2):173–177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Robin L. Carhart-Harris, David J. Nutt, Marcus R. Munafo, David M. Christmas & Sue J. Wilson

Authors
  1. Robin L. Carhart-Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David J. Nutt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcus R. Munafo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David M. Christmas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sue J. Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin L. Carhart-Harris.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carhart-Harris, R.L., Nutt, D.J., Munafo, M.R. et al. Equivalent effects of acute tryptophan depletion on REM sleep in ecstasy users and controls. Psychopharmacology 206, 187–196 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1595-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1595-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation