neonatal impact of opioid detoxication

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013 Sep;209(3):267.e1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2013.05.026. Epub 2013 May 29.

The obstetrical and neonatal impact of maternal opioid detoxification in pregnancy.

Substance use disorders and psychiatric comorbidity in mid and later life

Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Oct 24. [Epub ahead of print]

Substance use disorders and psychiatric comorbidity in mid and later life: a review.

telephone-bases treatment added on methadone

J Subst Abuse Treat. 2013 Jul;45(1):63-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2012.12.011. Epub 2013 Jan 30.

The Recovery Line: A pilot trial of automated, telephone-based treatment for continued drug use in methadone maintenance.

Jitai VS methadone

Addict Behav. 2013 Oct;38(10):2596-600. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.05.013. Epub 2013 Jun 5.

The effectiveness comparison of Jitai tablets versus methadone in community-based drug treatment: a 1-year follow-up study.

The retention rate in the methadone group was higher, but the JTT group had the same relapse prevention as the methadone group.

CYP2B6 SNPs are associated with methadone dose

Addict Biol. 2013 Jul;18(4):709-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00349.x. Epub 2011 Jul 25.

CYP2B6 SNPs are associated with methadone dose required for effective treatment of opioid addiction.

The mean methadone doses required by subjects homozygous for the variant alleles of the CYP2B6 SNPs 785A>G and 516G>T (88, 96mg, respectively) were significantly lower than those of the heterozygotes (133, 129mg, respectively) and the non-carriers (150, 151mg, respectively) (nominal P=0.012, 0.048, respectively).

Brain damages in ketamine

Brain damages in ketamine addicts as revealed by magnetic resonance imaging.

Front Neuroanat. 2013 Jul 17;7:23. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2013.00023. eCollection 2013.

 Twenty-one ketamine addicts were recruited and the results showed that the lesions in the brains of ketamine addicts were located in many regions which appeared 2–4 years after ketamine addiction.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-TCR65efOxbYWlLSlpTSGhrckk/edit?usp=sharing


other ref.:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22178134
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21035788
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23929545
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23776445
5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23643674
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23466691
7. Chronic ketamine exposure induces permanent impairment of brain functions in adolescent cynomolgus monkeys.Sun L, Li Q, Li Q, Zhang Y, Liu D, Jiang H, Pan F, Yew DT. Addict Biol. 2012 Nov 12. doi: 10.1111/adb.12004. [Epub ahead of print]
8. Chronic ketamine administration modulates midbrain dopamine system in mice. Tan S, Lam WP, Wai MS, Yu WH, Yew DT. PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e43947. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043947. Epub 2012 Aug 24.
9.AMPA receptor potentially participates in the mediation of the increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor following chronic ketamine use. Yang J, Zhou Z, Yang C. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 Mar;220(1):243; author reply 245. doi: 10.1007/s00213-011-2538-3. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
10.Comparison of the effects of acute and chronic administration of ketamine on hippocampal oscillations: relevance for the NMDA receptor hypofunction model of schizophrenia.Kittelberger K, Hur EE, Sazegar S, Keshavan V, Kocsis B. Brain Struct Funct. 2012 Apr;217(2):395-409. doi: 10.1007/s00429-011-0351-8. Epub 2011 Oct 7.
11.Gene expression changes in GABA(A) receptors and cognition following chronicketamine administration in mice. Tan S, Rudd JA, Yew DT. PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e21328. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021328. Epub 2011 Jun 21.
12. Chronic ketamine use increases serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Ricci V, Martinotti G, Gelfo F, Tonioni F, Caltagirone C, Bria P, Angelucci F.

Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 May;215(1):143-8. doi: 10.1007/s00213-010-2121-3. Epub 2010 Dec 14.

13.Frontal white matter abnormalities following chronic ketamine use: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Liao Y, Tang J, Ma M, Wu Z, Yang M, Wang X, Liu T, Chen X, Fletcher PC, Hao W. Brain. 2010 Jul;133(Pt 7):2115-22. doi: 10.1093/brain/awq131. Epub 2010 Jun 2.

14.Altered prefrontal dopaminergic function in chronic recreational ketamine users. Narendran R, Frankle WG, Keefe R, Gil R, Martinez D, Slifstein M, Kegeles LS, Talbot PS, Huang Y, Hwang DR, Khenissi L, Cooper TB, Laruelle M, Abi-Dargham A. Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;162(12):2352-9.

heroin dependence and dopaminerrgic gene

Multivariate analysis of dopaminergic gene variants as risk factors of heroin dependence.

PLoS One. 2013 Jun 28;8(6):e66592.

Analysis of Variations in the Glutamate Receptor, N-Methyl D-Aspartate 2A (GRIN2A) Gene Reveals Their Relative Importance as Genetic Susceptibility Factors for Heroin Addiction

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 5;8(8):e70817

These findings point to a role for GRIN2A polymorphisms in heroin addiction among the Han Chinese from Shaanxi province, and may be informative for future genetic or neurobiological studies on heroin addiction.

Allele frequency distribution of the GRIN2A(GT)n repeat in heroin addiction and controls

GRIN2A haplotype frequencies and the results of their associations with risk of heroin addiction.

methadone and buprrenorphine on dopamine receptors

Differential effects of methadone and buprenorphine on the response of D2/D3 dopamine receptors in adolescent mice.

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Available online 9 August 2013, In Press 

  Methadone exposure disturbs the D2-like receptor's response, indicating a potential risk in administering methadone to adolescents. Buprenorphine appears to have a significantly lower effect on the behavioral sensitivity of D2/D3 dopamine receptors in adolescents.

social network for heroin

Trials. 2013 Aug 19;14(1):264. [Epub ahead of print]

Pilot study of a social network intervention for heroin users in opiate substitution treatment: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

美國Scripps研究所研發出預防海洛因成癮復發的動態疫苗

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 May 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Dynamic vaccine blocks relapse to compulsive intake of heroin.

Schlosburg JE, Vendruscolo LF, Bremer PT, Lockner JW, Wade CL, Nunes AA, Stowe GN, Edwards S, Janda KD, Koob GF.

Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders and Departments of Chemistry, Immunology, and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037.

Abstract

Heroin addiction, a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by excessive drug taking and seeking, requires constant psychotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic interventions to minimize the potential for further abuse. Vaccine strategies against many drugs of abuse are being developed that generate antibodies that bind drug in the bloodstream, preventing entry into the brain and nullifying psychoactivity. However, this strategy is complicated by heroin's rapid metabolism to 6-acetylmorphine and morphine. We recently developed a "dynamic" vaccine that creates antibodies against heroin and its psychoactive metabolites by presenting multihaptenic structures to the immune system that match heroin's metabolism. The current study presents evidence of effective and continuous sequestration of brain-permeable constituents of heroin in the bloodstream following vaccination. The result is efficient blockade of heroin activity in treated rats, preventing various features of drugs of abuse: heroin reward, drug-induced reinstatement of drug seeking, and reescalation of compulsive heroin self-administration following abstinence in dependent rats. The dynamic vaccine shows the capability to significantly devalue the reinforcing and motivating properties of heroin, even in subjects with a history of dependence. In addition, targeting a less brain-permeable downstream metabolite, morphine, is insufficient to prevent heroin-induced activity in these models, suggesting that heroin and 6-acetylmorphine are critical players in heroin's psychoactivity. Because the heroin vaccine does not target opioid receptors or common opioid pharmacotherapeutics, it can be used in conjunction with available treatment options. Thus, our vaccine represents a promising adjunct therapy for heroin addiction, providing continuous heroin antagonism, requiring minimal medical monitoring and patient compliance.

KEYWORDS:

antinociception, immunotherapy, progressive ratio

OPRM1 and COMT and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Association of OPRM1 and COMT Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms With Hospital Length of Stay and Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

JAMA. 2013;309(17):1821-1827. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.3411.

Among infants with NAS, variants in the OPRM1 andCOMT genes were associated with a shorter length of hospital stay and less need for treatment. These preliminary findings may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying NAS.

High prevalence but low awareness of hepatitis C virus infection

Addict Behav. 2013 Apr;38(4):2089-93. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.01.010. Epub 2013 Jan 17.

High prevalence but low awareness of hepatitis C virus infection among heroin users who received methadone maintenance therapy in Taiwan.

The prevalence of HCV infection was 90.8%. All participants who were HIV-positive were also infected with HCV. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the route of heroin administration (injection), HIV-infection, and criminal records were significantly related to HCV infection. 

Few (34.8%) HCV positive heroin users were aware of their infection.

Return to drug use and overdose after release from prison

Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2012;7(1):3. doi: 10.1186/1940-0640-7-3. Epub 2012 Mar 15.

Return to drug use and overdose after release from prison: a qualitative study of risk and protective factors.

1) Relapse to drugs and alcohol occurred in a context of poor social support, medical co-morbidity and inadequate economic resources;

 2) former inmates experienced ubiquitous exposure to drugs in their living environments;

 3) intentional overdose was considered "a way out" given situational stressors, and accidental overdose was perceived as related to decreased tolerance;

 4) protective factors included structured drug treatment programs, spirituality/religion, community-based resources (including self-help groups), and family.

Heroin on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis

J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2013 Feb 14. [Epub ahead of print]

Acute Effects of Intravenous Heroin on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response: A Controlled Trial.

 Heroin administration reduces craving, withdrawal, and anxiety levels and leads to significant decreases in ACTH and cortisol concentrations (P < 0.01).

 After heroin administration, cortisol concentrations did not differ from healthy controls, and ACTH levels were significantly lower (P < 0.01).

 In contrast, when patients receive saline, all hormone levels were significantly higher in patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.01).

Heroin-dependent patients showed a normalized HPA axis response compared to healthy controls when they receive their regular heroin dose.

 These findings indicate that regular opioid administration protects addicts from stress and underscore the clinical significance of heroin-assisted treatment for heroin-dependent patients.

 

Heroin Abstinence in 33-Year Observational Cohort

Characterizing Durations of Heroin Abstinence in the California Civil Addict Program: Results From a 33-Year Observational Cohort Study.

Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Feb 27. [Epub ahead of print]

 

Among 471 heroin-dependent males, 387 (82.2%) reported 932 abstinence episodes, 60.3% of which lasted at least 1 year.

 1. Demographic factors such as age and ethnicity did not explain variation in durations of abstinence episodes. Eemployment and lower drug use severity predicted longer episodes. 

2. Abstinence durations were longer following sustained treatment versus incarceration.

3. Individuals with multiple abstinence episodes remained abstinent for longer durations in successive episodes.

4.Abstinence episodes initiated >10 and ≤20 years after first use lasted longer than others.

Erectile Dysfunction Methadone Maintenance Therapy

Risk Factors of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) in Patients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Therapy

J Sex Med. 2013 Feb 27. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12105. [Epub ahead of print]

 

The rate of ED among men on MMT was 68.5% (mild ED, 36.1%; mild to moderate ED, 22.2%; severe ED, 3.7%). The mean age of the participants was 43.45 years. Older age (P = 0.002), concurrent illicit heroin use (P = 0.024), and having an older partner (P = 0.039) were significantly associated with ED. Following multivariate analysis, it was found that older age was the only significant predictor of ED, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.07 (95% CI = 1.02-1.16). Methadone dose and duration of methadone treatment were not significantly associated with ED.