Agony and Ecstasy

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Norris Armstrong

University of Georgia-Athens

Susan, a new intern at the local hospital, was working the admissions desk one Monday morning. A man and a woman rushed through the doors, carrying a second woman. “Help! Can you help us?” one called. Susan and a nurse rushed them into an exam room.

“What happened?” Susan asked while examining the patient. “We don’t know!” the female student sobbed. “Brittany started feeling sick at a party last night. She came home and went to sleep, but then couldn’t wake up this morning. She was acting so weird we decided to bring her here.”

Susan carefully observed the woman lying on the table. She was rolling her head and clearly seemed confused. However, there were no obvious signs of trauma. “Has Brittany taken any drugs recently?” Susan asked. The two students hesitated and looked at each other. Finally one of them nodded. “I think she took some Ecstasy last night.”

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Susan thought for a moment. Ecstasy had been fairly popular on the party scene for several years now. She had seen people on the drug become somewhat confused, but not delirious. Maybe Brittany was having an adverse reaction to the drug. It was a start. To be safe, Susan ordered a series of blood tests. In the meantime, she checked her medical references to find out as much as she could about how Ecstasy affected the body.

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Ecstasy (MDMA) Animation

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/mouse/

Animation describing the neurological/molecular mechanisms

by which ecstasy works

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• MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. MDMA acts as both a stimulant and psychedelic. It produces an energizing effect, distorts both physical and cognitive sensations, and may impair memory.
• MDMA affects a neuron’s ability to use the chemical serotonin. Serotonin plays an important role in regulating mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. Research in animals indicates that MDMA is a neurotoxin. MDMA is potentially harmful to health and, on rare occasions, may be lethal.

Ecstasy (MDMA) Fact Sheet

Ideas why Brittany is ill?

MDMA may affect:

• Blood pressure
• Pulse rate
• Body temperature
• Hyperthermia
• Hypothermia
• Water Balance
• Dehydration
• Excess water
• Blood sugar level
• Vision

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Brittany’s Test Results

1. High blood pressure or rapid heart rate
2. Hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar water)
3. Hyperthermia (too hot)
4. Hypothermia (too cold)
5. Excess water (too much water)
6. Dehydration (too little water)

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CQ#1: What do the test results suggest is causing Brittany’s illness?

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Concentration: Amount of one substance (solute, ) dissolved in given volume of another substance (solvent, ).

Side A

Side B

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Susan spoke to the students in the waiting area. “Did Brittany have much to drink last evening?” “Just one beer,” replied one. “She had a test today and wanted to study. She did drink a lot of water. You’re supposed to do that to prevent a hangover aren’t you? She seemed really thirsty.”

Susan thought for a minute. Normally, Brittany’s kidneys would respond to drinking a lot of water by producing large amounts of dilute urine. However, Ecstasy acts as an anti-diuretic and forces the kidneys to make concentrated urine instead. This would prevent Brittany’s body from getting rid of excess water and could cause her electrolytes to fall. Could this be causing her symptoms?

Ecstasy Case Continued

Diffusion / Osmosis Animations

http://www.hartnell.edu/tutorials/biology/animations/osmosis/Osmosis.swf

(The animation below requires Adobe Flash Player. Click on button below to start.)

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Diffusion and Osmosis Tutorial by Dr. Katherine Harris Diffusion and Osmosis Tutorial by Dr. Katherine Harris , licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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Side A

Side B

CQ#2: Assume movement of a molecule is limited. It can move to the opposite side of a container or stay where it is. If movement is random, what is the probability (0-100%) that the molecule will move to the opposite side?

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A. 10 C. 0

B. 5 D. It is impossible to predict

Side A

Side B

CQ#3: Assume there are 10 molecules on one side of a container. How many would you expect to move to the opposite side?

Diffusion with Many Particles

http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/BiologyArchive/lectureanimations/closerlook/diffusion.html

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(Select the link above to view the animation; the image below is a screen shot.)

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Side A

Side B

1. Red molecules will move from side A to B.
2. Blue molecules will move from side B to A.
3. All of the molecules will move so that red and blue will become equal on both sides.
4. More molecules will move from side A to B than from side B to A.

CQ#4: Which statement best describes how these molecules will behave over time due to random movement?

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Brittany’s cells

Inside Cells

300 mM Salt

Outside Cells

250 mM Salt

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1. H₂O
2. Glucose
3. Na+
4. O₂
5. An amino acid

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CQ#5: Which of the following molecules could move through a phospholipid membrane with the least difficulty?

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HOW DO MOLECULES CROSS?

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Aquaporins

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Inside the cells

Outside the cells

Brittany’s Tissues

Aquaporin

CQ#6: What do you expect to happen over time in Brittany’s cells?

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1. Water will move from inside to outside ONLY.
2. Water will move from outside to inside ONLY.
3. Water will move in both directions, but more water will move inside.
4. Water will move in both directions, but more water will move outside.
5. Water will not move.

Inside Cells

300 mM Salt

Outside Cells

250 mM Salt

Brittany was treated for hyponatremia. The treatment included giving her an IV of fluids with normal or slightly higher sodium concentrations to correct the salt imbalance in her tissues.

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A problem associated with acute (sudden) hyponatremia, or water intoxication, is swelling of tissues due to osmotic uptake of water by cells. Fortunately, because she received treatment, they were able to reverse the swelling effects before her brain stem was damaged.

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Hyponatremia can be very serious because of the possibility of brain damage.

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So what happened to Brittany?

• Brittney Chambers of Colorado (2001), Leah Betts of Great Britain (1995), and Anna Wood of Australia (1995) died after reportedly taking Ecstasy and drinking large amounts of water.
• Fraternity hazing killed Matthew Carrington, a student at California State Chico February 2005.
• In Sacramento, Jennifer Strange died after a water-drinking contest "Hold your wee for a Wii” sponsored by a local radio station, January 2007.
• A 28-year-old female Boston marathoner died in 2002.
• Artist Andy Warhol died after hospital staff accidentally administered excess water after gall bladder surgery (1987).
• Infants fed diluted formula for extended periods of time can suffer from hyponatremia.

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Problems with Hyponatremia

Passive diffusion

Facilitated diffusion

Active Transport

Energy

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Endo & Exocytosis

Golgi Apparatus

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Unless specifically indicated otherwise below or in the presentation, all illustrations appearing in this case study were created by the author, Norris Armstrong.

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Slide 1

Description: Ecstasy tablets.

Source: United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Link: Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:EcstasyTablets.jpg

Clearance: This image is a work of a Drug Enforcement Administration employee, taken or made during the course of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain (17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 105).

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Slide 3

Description: Ecstasy emergency room mentions graph.

Source: The National Drug Control Strategy: 2001 Annual Report, Chapter II: America’s Drug Use Profile, MDMA

Link: http://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/policy/ndcs01/chap2.html

Clearance: This image is a work of the Office of National Drug Control Policy of the U.S. Department of Justice. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain (17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 105).

Slide Credits