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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Sep 12.
Published in final edited form as: Psychiatr Times. 2016 Sep 30;33(9):16–18.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Synergistic neurotoxicity of methamphetamine (METH) and betulinic acid (BA) to monoaminergic terminals in the rat striatum of male late adolescent rats19

Methamphetamine binge increases the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in brain areas containing dopamine (DA), particularly in the DA-rich striatum; decreases the levels of neuroprotective E3 ligase parkin; and increases permeability of the blood-brain barrier to drugs—including betulinic acid.

ROS, reactive oxygen species; RNS, reactive nitrogen species; BBB, blood-brain barrier.