Cocaine potentiates MDMA-induced oxidative stress but not dopaminergic neurotoxicity in mice: implications for the pathogenesis of free radical-induced neurodegenerative disorders

Abstract

The drugs of abuse 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; “ecstasy”) and cocaine both increase the generation of free radicals, and in the case of MDMA, this increase in oxidative stress is involved in the dopaminergic neurotoxicity produced by the drug in mice. Oxidative stress processes are also involved in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases.