The nation’s leading causes of death are related to alcohol and drug use, tobacco smoke exposure, and behavioral addictions. In addition, the comorbidity of addictions and psychiatric illnesses (ie, dual diagnosis) is… Read More
There is strong evidence to support the hypothesis that cannabis consumption is a risk factor for the development of psychotic symptoms and schizophrenia. . . . Read More
Quick . . . name a class of prescription medications that, by most evidence, appears to be overprescribed and abused and the use of which has resulted... More »
In our time, it seems that the number of psychiatrists who believe in a God are increasing, parallel with the decreasing influence of Freud’s ideas. More »
Evidence-based analysis shows that weak opioids have at best a weak effect in rheumatoid arthritis pain. Steroid injections offer no long-term relief... More »
As a consultation liaison psychiatrist, one of his assignments was to work on a renal dialysis unit to determine whether or not a patient was... More »
OBJECTIVE: A three-week in-unit, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial in non-treatment-seeking heroin addicts was undertaken to test the translatability of pre-clinical findings of enhanced opioid analgesia and reduced dependence and tolerance with concomitant ibudilast exposure.
BACKGROUND: Previous animal studies have established that systemic ibudilast administration can improve the analgesic potency and efficacy of therapeutic doses of opioids such as morphine and oxy
Advertisement. Search. Still not a subscriber to JACC Imaging or JACC Interventions? J Am Coll Cardiol, 2012; 59: 2221-2305, doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2012.02.010 ( Published online 8 May 2012). 2012 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.
Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2, also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) is an important factor for the pathogenesis of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The mechanisms of MCP-1-mediated neuropathogenesis, in part, revolve around its neuroinflammatory role and the recruitment of monocytes into the central nervous system (CNS) via the disrupted blood-brain barrier (BBB). We have previously demonstrated that HIV-1/HIV-1 Tat upregulate platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB, a
Possible interactions between nervous and immune systems in neuro-psychiatric disorders remain elusive. Levels of brain dopamine transporter (DAT) have been implicated in several impulse-control disorders, like attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we assessed the interplay between DAT auto-immunity and behavioural / neurochemical phenotype.|Possible interactions between nervous and immune systems in neuro-psychiatric disorders remain elusive. Leve
Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is known to be dysregulated in persons with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), for uncertain reasons. This is an important issue because impaired vasoreactivity has been associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, elevated overall cardiovascular risk and cognitive impairment.|Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is known to be dysregulated in persons with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), for uncertain reasons. This is an important issue because impaired vasoreactivity has
Cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8), the most potent endogenous anti-opioid peptide, has been shown to regulate the processes of morphinedependence. In our previous study, we found that exogenous CCK-8 attenuated naloxone induced withdrawal symptoms. To investigate the precise effect of exogenous CCK-8 and the role of cholecystokinin (CCK) 1 and/or 2 receptors in morphinedependence, a SH-SY5Y cell model was employed, in which the -opioid receptor, CCK1/2 receptors, and endogenous CCK are co-expressed.|Forty-eight hours after treating SH-SY5Y cells with morphine (10M), naloxone (10M) induced a cAMP overshoot, indicating that cellular morphinedependence had been induced. The CCK receptor and endogenous CCK were up-regulated after chronic morphine exposure. The CCK2 receptor antagonist (LY-288,513) at 1-10M inhibited the naloxone-precipitated cAMP overshoot, but the CCK1 receptor antagonist (L-364,718) did not. Interestingly, CCK-8 (0.1-1M), a strong CCK receptor
The development of tolerance to and dependence on opioid analgesics greatly reduces their long-term usefulness. Previous studies have demonstrated that co-administration of a -opioid receptor (MOR) agonist and -opioid receptor (DOR) antagonist can decrease MOR agonist-induced tolerance and dependence development after chronic exposure. Clinically, a single ligand displaying multiple efficacies (e.g., MOR agonism concurrently with DOR antagonism) would be of increased value over two drugs administered simultaneously. Guided by modeling of receptor-ligand complexes we have developed a series of potent non-selective opioid tetrapeptides that have differing efficacy at MOR and DOR. In particular, our lead peptide (KSK-103) binds with equal affinity to MOR and DOR but acts as a MOR agonist with similar efficacy but greater potency than morphine and a DOR antagonist in cellular assays measuring both G protein stimulation and adenylyl cyclase inhibition.
Drug addiction is a chronic neuronal disease. In recent years, proteomics technology has been widely used to assess the protein expression in the brain tissues of both animals and humans exposed to addictive drugs. Through this approach, a large number of proteins potentially involved in the etiology of drug addictions have been identified, which provide a valuable resource to study protein function, biochemical pathways, and networks related to the molecular mechanisms underlying drug dependence. In this article, we summarize the recent application of proteomics to profiling protein expression patterns in animal or human brain tissues after the administration of alcohol, amphetamine/methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, morphine/heroin/butorphanol, or nicotine. From available reports, we compiled a list of 497 proteins associated with exposure to one or more addictive drugs, with 160 being related to exposure to at least two abused drugs. A number of biochemical pathways and
This paper is the thirty-third consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2010 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior (Section 2), and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia (Section 3); stress and social status (Section 4); tolerance and dependence (Section 5); learning and memory (Section 6); eating and drinking (Section 7); alcohol and drugs of abuse (Section 8); sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (Section 9); mental illness and mood (Section 10); seizures and neurologic disorders (Section 11);
APRIL JOGC AVRIL 2011 l 367 Substance Use in Pregnancy This clinical practice guideline has been prepared by the Working Group on Problematic Substance Use in Pregnancy, reviewed by the Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee, the Family Physicians
Five Steps to Improving Patient Access Judy Capko, May 21, 2013 Patient access is getting increased attention through reform initiatives. Here are five steps you can take to make sure patients get appropriate access to care in your office.
Growing HIPAA Threat – Ignore Windows XP at Your Own Peril Marion K. Jenkins, May 21, 2013 Chances are good that you have some major ticking software time bombs lurking in your medical practice's computer environment, namely Windows XP and Server 2003.
Three Areas to Reduce Costs at Your Medical Practice Greg Mertz, May 19, 2013 By taking a hard look at reducing costs for staffing, overhead, and technology at your medical practice, you may see increased physician compensation.
Dos and Don’ts for Starting a Physician Blog Michael Woo-Ming, MD, May 18, 2013 Starting a physician blog can provide your medical practice with marketing benefits, but it's important to do it right.