In this issue

Your Brain on Drugs

On p 548 of this issue, Carmona et al. report on the use of FTIR microspectroscopy to investigate the changes in brain lipids and proteins upon exposure to nicotine and/or amphetamine compounds. Their results suggest that amphetamine exposure produces elevated levels of oxidative stress that were attenuated in the presence of nicotine. A similar trend observed for β-sheet proteins in similarly treated brain tissues suggests a connection between oxidative stress and the β-sheet protein structure characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Carmona, P., et al. FTIR Microspectroscopic Analysis of the Effects of Certain Drugs on Oxidative Stress and Brain Protein Structure, p. 548.