Pharmacogenetic Randomized Trial for Cocaine Abuse: Disulfiram and ?1A-Adrenoceptor Gene Variation.

Pharmacogenetic randomized trial for cocaine abuse: Disulfiram and ?1A-adrenoceptor gene variation.

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Jul 9;
Shorter D, Nielsen DA, Huang W, Harding MJ, Hamon SC, Kosten TR

Disulfiram is a cocaine addiction pharmacotherapy that inhibits dopamine ?-hydroxylase (D?H) and reduces norepinephrine production. We examined whether a functional variant of the ADRA1A gene (Cys to Arg at codon 347 in exon 2, Cys347Arg) may enhance treatment response through decreased stimulation of this ?1A-adrenoceptor, since antagonists of this receptor show promise in reducing cocaine use. Sixty-nine cocaine and opioid co-dependent (DSM-IV) subjects were stabilized on methadone for two weeks and subsequently randomized into disulfiram (250mg/day, N=32) and placebo groups (N=37) for 10 weeks. We genotyped the ADRA1A gene polymorphism (rs1048101) and evaluated its role for increasing cocaine free urines in those subjects treated with disulfiram using repeated measures analysis of variance, corrected for population structure. The 47 patients who carried at least one T allele of rs1048101 (TT or TC genotype) reduced their cocaine positive urines from 84% to 56% on disulfiram (p=0.0001), while the 22 patients with the major allele CC genotype showed no disulfiram effect. This study indicates that a patient’s ADRA1A genotype could be used to identify a subset of individuals for which disulfiram and, perhaps, other ?1-adrenoceptor blockers may be an effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. HubMed – addiction

Social Support and Social Interaction Ties on Internet Addiction: Integrating Online and Offline Contexts.

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2013 Jul 12;
Wang ES, Wang MC

Abstract This study explores the relationship between social support and social interaction ties on Internet addiction by integrating both online and offline social encounters. A total of 1,642 members of online social communities participated in this research, for which structural equation modeling was used for analysis. The findings show that social support is positively associated with social interaction ties in both online and offline contexts. In addition, online social support and online social interaction ties are positively associated with Internet addiction, whereas offline social support and social interaction ties on Internet addiction are negatively associated. This finding has important implications not only for understanding the cause of Internet addiction but also for understanding the diminishing Internet addiction due to social support and social interaction ties. HubMed – addiction

Letter to the Editor.

Addiction. 2013 Jul 12;
Kerr WC, Greenfield TK, Ye Y, Bond J, Rehm J

HubMed – addiction