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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Disrupting Reconsolidation of Fear Memory in Humans by a Noradrenergic β-Blocker
Published on: December 18, 2014
Methamphetamine fails to alter the noradrenergic integrity of the heart
Riccardo Ruffoli1, Paola Soldani, Livia Pasquali
1Department of Human Morphology and Applied Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Abstract:
The chronic use of methamphetamine leads to cardiomyopathy and a nigrostriatal dopamine deficiency that partly mimics what occurs in Parkinson's disease. This study examines the cardiac effects occurring after chronic administration of methamphetamine and parkinsonism-inducing neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. Despite the similarities concerning the nigrostriatal dopamine denervation, methamphetamine failed to produce chronic norepinephrine depletion in the heart, thus contrasting with what occurs in Parkinson's disease or after administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. These data suggest that the chronic cardiovascular effects induced by methamphetamine rely on biochemical changes which differ from those activated by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine or during the course of Parkinson's disease.
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