Electroconvulsive seizures protect against methamphetamine-induced inhibition of neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus

Following methamphetamine consumption and during abstinence many behavioral consequences emerge (i.e., cognitive deficits, ongoing episodes of psychosis, depression, severe cravings, brain neurotoxicity), which are likely linked to propensity to relapse. In this line of thought, we recently showed that binge methamphetamine administration enhanced negative affect and voluntary drug consumption in rats, while it induced persistent neurotoxic effects (i.e., impaired hippocampal neurogenesis), effects that emerged long after drug removal. To date, no pharmacological strategies have been proven to be effective for the treatment of methamphetamine toxicity. A few studies have evaluated the impact of combining methamphetamine pretreatment with electroconvulsive seizures (ECS) post-treatment, an alternative non-pharmacological option used in psychiatry for resistant depression that offers a safe and really potent therapeutic response. Against this background, the present study aimed at testing whether repeated ECS treatment could ameliorate some of the long-term neurotoxicity effects induced by adolescent methamphetamine exposure in rats and emerging after drug removal. At the behavioral level, the main results showed that methamphetamine administration did not alter negative affect immediate during adolescence or later on in adulthood. Interestingly, repeated ECS improved the negative impact of methamphetamine administration on reducing hippocampal neurogenesis, demonstrating that ECS can attenuate certain degree of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in rats, and suggesting ECS as a good therapeutical candidate that deserves further studies.