Why Social Attachment and Oxytocin Protect Against Addiction and Stress: Insights From the Dynamics Between Ventral and Dorsal Corticostriatal Systems.

Why Social Attachment and Oxytocin Protect against Addiction and Stress: Insights from the Dynamics between Ventral and Dorsal Corticostriatal Systems.

Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2013 Jul 31;
Tops M, Koole SL, Ijzerman H, Buisman-Pijlman FT

The present article advances a neurobiological model of the reciprocal associations between social attachment and drug abuse, and social attachment and chronic stress, as overlapping systems are involved in stress coping and social attachment. In terms of coping, responding to a novel stressor or challenge involves initial novelty processing and activation of learning mechanisms that allow habituation to the stressor through familiarization. Similarly, social attachments are initially formed by being attracted by rewarding properties of an as-yet novel individual, and subsequently developing feelings of attachment towards the familiarized individual. Attachment and familiarization increase the availability of “internal working models” for the control of behavior and emotion, which may explain why secure attachments are associated with increased resilience in the face of stress, accompanied by less reactive reward responding (i.e., increased resilience against drug addiction). The present article seeks to illuminate the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin, which may be involved in the overlapping mechanisms of stable attachment formation and stress coping by shifting processing from novelty and reward seeking to appreciation of familiarity. Oxytocin may accomplish this by facilitating a ventral-to-dorsal shift in activation in corticostriatal loops, which produces a shift from a reactive reward drive (“wanting”) to stable appreciation of familiar social aspects (“liking” or “loving”). The authors suggest that through dopaminergic, serotonergic and endogenous opioid mechanisms, oxytocin is involved in shifting the balance between wanting and liking in corticostriatal loops by facilitating consolidation of social information from ventral reactive reward systems to dorsal internal working models that aid in prospectively selecting optimal actions in the future, increasing resilience in the face of stress and addiction. HubMed – addiction

Vitamin D deficiency in alcohol-use disorders and its relationship to comorbid major depression: A cross-sectional study of inpatients in Nepal.

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Jul 31;
Neupane SP, Lien L, Hilberg T, Bramness JG

Mounting evidence suggests that deficiency of vitamin D may be associated with major health problems, including alcohol-use disorders (AUD) and major depression (MD). This study aimed to identify the vitamin D status of Nepalese inpatients with an AUD. We explored socio-demographic and alcohol-use related correlates and the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and comorbid MD.A cross-sectional study was conducted on AUD inpatients (N=174) at eight alcohol/drug treatment centres around Kathmandu. Structured questionnaires were administered to assess the socio-demographic and alcohol-use parameters and to establish DSM-IV diagnoses of AUD and MD. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration of <50nmol/L.The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 64%. Higher age, having a stable job or business, shorter time since last alcohol intake and winter serum samples were related to having lower 25(OH)D levels. Several features of AUD severity were associated with low vitamin D levels: guilt about drinking, using alcohol as eye-opener, and history of relapse after alcohol treatment (p?0.03). Patients with a comorbid major depression, in particular secondarily depressed cases, were less likely to have vitamin D deficiency (X(2)=6.8; p=0.01).This study confirms high rates of vitamin D deficiency in alcohol treatment sample and shows a positive association between vitamin D deficiency and severity of alcohol-use disorders. Competing risk and other confounders may help explain the vitamin D status among patients with alcohol-use disorders and comorbid major depression. HubMed – addiction

Methadone and buprenorphine-naloxone are effective in reducing illicit buprenorphine and other opioid use, and reducing HIV risk behavior-Outcomes of a randomized trial.

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2013 Jul 31;
Otiashvili D, Piralishvili G, Sikharulidze Z, Kamkamidze G, Poole S, Woody GE

Determine the extent to which buprenorphine injectors continue treatment with buprenorphine-naloxone or methadone, and the impact of these treatments on substance use and HIV risk in the Republic of Georgia.Randomized controlled 12-week trial of daily-observed methadone or buprenorphine-naloxone followed by a dose taper, referral to ongoing treatment, and follow-up at week 20 at the Uranti Clinic in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. Eighty consenting treatment-seeking individuals (40/group) aged 25 and above who met ICD-10 criteria for opioid dependence with physiologic features and reported injecting buprenorphine 10 or more times in the past 30 days. Opioid use according to urine tests and self-reports, treatment retention, and HIV risk behavior as determined by the Risk Assessment Battery.Mean age of participants was 33.7 (SD5.7), 4 were female, mean history of opioid injection use was 5.8 years (SD4.6), none were HIV+ at intake or at the 12-week assessment and 73.4% were HCV+. Sixty-eight participants (85%) completed the 12-week medication phase (33 from methadone and 35 from buprenorphine/naloxone group); 37 (46%) were in treatment at the 20-week follow-up (21 from methadone and 16 from the buprenorphine/naloxone group). In both study arms, treatment resulted in a marked reduction in unprescribed buprenorphine, other opioid use, and HIV injecting risk behavior with no clinically significant differences between the two treatment arms.Daily observed methadone or buprenorphine-naloxone are effective treatments for non-medical buprenorphine and other opioid use in the Republic of Georgia and likely to be useful for preventing HIV infection. HubMed – addiction

Paul Gascoigne on his alcohol addiction, rehab and watering his plants ? video
Former football star Paul Gascoigne says he pleaded with doctors not to let him die when he was rushed to hospital in the US because he needed to water his p…