%0 Journal Article %A Soleimani Asl, Sara %A Hesam Shariati, Mohamad Bakhtiar %A Medizadeh, Mehdi %A Ahmadpanah, Mohammad %A Sohrabi, Maryam %T The effect of 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine on expression of neurotrophic factors in hippocampus of male rats %J Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran %V 31 %N 1 %U http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-4121-en.html %R 10.14196/mjiri.31.60 %D 2017 %K Ecstasy, BDNF, Trk- β, NT4, %X Background: 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a chemical derivative of amphetamine that can induce learning and memory impairment. Due to the effect of neurotrophins on memory and learning, the impact of MDMA was evaluated on the brain - derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin- 4 (NT-4), and tropomyosin- related kinase B (Trk- β) expression in the hippocampus. Methods: In this study, 20 adult male Wistar rats (200-250 g) received saline (1 mL) or 10 mg/kg of MDMA intraperitoneally as single or multiple injection for 2 consecutive days per week for 2 months. Expression of BDNF, Trk-β, and NT4 were assessed using Western blotting and RT PCR methods. Results: Our results revealed that the expression of BDNF, Trk- β, and NT4 proteins and genes significantly decreased in MDMA groups compared to the sham group (p<0.05). Furthermore, the acute group showed the lowest expression of these proteins. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that ecstasy administration may downregulate the expression of BDNF, Trk- β, and NT-4 in hippocampus, which is more extensive in case of acute treatment. It seems that in the chronic group, hippocampus was able to compensate the ecstasy- induced neurotoxicity. %> http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-4121-en.pdf %P 344-348 %& 344 %! %9 Original Research %L A-10-1194-1 %+ Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. %G eng %@ 1016-1430 %[ 2017