The recreational use of amphetamine-type stimulants can produce a marked and sometimes lethal increase in body temperature. Here we show that mice deficient in a mitochondrial protein known as UCP-3 (for 'uncoupling protein-3') have a diminished thermogenic response to the drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, nicknamed 'ecstasy') and so are protected against this dangerously toxic effect. Our findings indicate that UCP-3 is important in MDMA-induced hyperthermia and point to a new therapeutic direction for solving an increasing public-health problem.

1. Cardiovascular Branch, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1622, USA
2. Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio 45810, USA

Correspondence to: Jon E. Sprague² e-mail: Email: j-sprague@onu.edu