Methamphetamine Neurotoxicity: Neurotoxic Effects, Mechanism of Toxicity, Molecular Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies

Abstract

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive and dangerous drug that mainly affects neurotransmitters in the brain and leads to feelings of alertness and euphoria. The METH use can lead to addiction, which has become a worldwide problem, resulting in a slew of public health and safety issues. Recent studies showed that chronic METH use can lead to neurotoxicity, neuro-inflammation and oxidative stress which can lead to neuronal injury. This review discussed the history of METH use, the link between METH use and neurotoxicity, the molecular mechanism and the different treatment strategies. This study attempted to discuss some of the drug's principal impacts and gave proof in favor of a few of the cellular and molecular causes of METH neurotoxicity. In addition, it demonstrates the most recent treatment strategies involving mitigating METH-induced neurotoxicity. However, future studies are needed to better understand the mechanism by which METH use induced neurotoxicity.

Keywords: Methamphetamine; excitotoxicity; neuroinflammation; neurotoxicity; oxidative stress; treatment.