Although it has been initially synthesized for therapeutic purposes and currently FDA-approved and prescribed for obesity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and depression, methamphetamine became a recreational drug that is nowadays massively manufactured illegally. Because it is a powerful and extremely addictive psychotropic agent, its abuse has turned out to become a major health problem worldwide. Importantly, the numerous effects triggered by this drug induce neurotoxicity in the brain ultimately leading to serious neurological impairments, tissue damage and neuropsychological disturbances that are reminiscent to most of the symptoms observed in Alzheimer’s disease and other pathological manifestations in aging brain. In this context, there is a growing number of compelling evidence linking methamphetamine abuse with a higher probability of developing premature Alzheimer’s disease and consequent neurodegeneration. This review proposes to establish a broad assessment of the effects that this drug can generate at the cellular and molecular levels in connection with the development of the age-related Alzheimer’s disease. Altogether, the objective is to warn against the long-term effects that methamphetamine abuse may convey on young consumers and the increased risk of developing this devastating brain disorder at later stages of their lives, but also to discuss a more recently emerging concept suggesting a possible use of methamphetamine for treating this pathology under proper and strictly controlled conditions.

尽管甲基苯丙胺最初是出于治疗目的而合成的，目前已获得FDA批准，并被指定用于肥胖症，注意力缺陷/多动症，发作性睡病和抑郁症，但甲基苯丙胺已成为一种休闲药物，如今已​​被大量非法制造。由于它是一种功能强大且极易上瘾的精神药物，因此它的滥用已成为全球范围内的主要健康问题。重要的是，由这种药物引发的多种作用诱导了大脑中的神经毒性，最终导致严重的神经功能缺损，组织损伤和神经心理障碍，使人联想到在阿尔茨海默氏病中观察到的大多数症状以及大脑衰老中的其他病理表现。在这种情况下，越来越多的令人信服的证据表明，滥用甲基苯丙胺与发生早老性阿尔茨海默氏病和随之而来的神经变性的可能性更高。这篇综述提议建立一种与年龄相关的阿尔茨海默氏病的发展有关的药物在细胞和分子水平产生的作用的广泛评估。总而言之，目的是警告滥用甲基苯丙胺可能对年轻消费者造成的长期影响，以及在其生命后期发展这种毁灭性脑部疾病的风险增加，同时还讨论了一个新近出现的概念，表明可能在适当且严格控制的条件下使用甲基苯丙胺治疗该病理的方法。