Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation: Diagnosing and Treating Opioid Dependence.

Diagnosing and treating opioid dependence.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

J Fam Pract. 2012 Oct; 61(10): 588-97
Hill KP, Rice LS, Connery HS, Weiss RD

The surge in opioid abuse highlights the importance of questioning patients about their use of prescription analgesics–and knowing when and how to intervene.
HubMed – drug

 

The Role of p53 in Marijuana Smoke Condensates-induced Genotoxicity and Apoptosis.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Environ Health Toxicol. 2012; 27: e2012017
Kim HR, Son BH, Lee SY, Chung KH, Oh SM

Marijuana is one of the most frequently abused drug in Korea and its adverse health effects are controversial. p53 is known to be crucial in regulating the DNA damage responses, and adverse effects can occur when it is regulated by marijuana smoke. We evaluated a role of p53 on genotoxic effect and apoptosis in lung cancer cells exposed to marijuana smoke condensates (MSCs).The p53-related genotoxicity and apoptosis of MSCs were evaluated using in vitro bioassay, viz., comet assay, cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay and apoptosis assay. We used two cell lines with differential p53 expression (p53-wildtype (WT) H460 and p53-null H1299).MSCs significantly increased DNA breakages and chromosomal changes in p53-WT H460 and p53-null H1299 cells. The genotoxicity induced by MSCs in p53-null H1299 cells showed greater sensitivity than p53-WT H460 cells. Moreover, MSCs showed a significant increase in reactive oxygen species production and apoptosis. The apoptotic responses induced by MSCs were higher in p53-WT H460 cells than in p53-null H1299 cells. Significantly increased mRNA expression or apoptosis related genes, including p53, caspase-3, and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio were observed in the p53-WT H460 cells exposed to MSCs.These results suggest that MSCs induce DNA/chromosomal damages and apoptosis in human lung cancer cells and p53 plays an important role in the cellular response to MSCs. The present study may have border implications for our understanding of pulmonary diseases.
HubMed – drug

 

A case of drug overdose-induced, severe electrocardiogram abnormalities: investigation through plasma drug concentrations.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2012; 14(3):
Sanjo K, Koeda A, Koizumi N, Onuma Y, Saga Y, Tomizawa H, Sato R, Kikuchi S, Fukumoto K, Takeuchi K, Natori T, Fujino Y, Inoue Y, Sakai A, Endo S, Inoue Y

HubMed – drug

 

A Comparison of Blood-lead Level (BLL) in Opium-dependant Addicts With Healthy Control Group Using the Graphite Furnace/atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GF-AAS) Followed by Chemometric Analysis.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2012 Aug; 14(8): 488-91
Amiri M, Amini R

A comparison of oral/inhaled opium addicts with a healthy control group was investigated. Using the graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GF-AAS) followed by chemometric analysis, sub-to-low µg L-1 concentrations of blood lead level (BLL) was detected in both the addict and the control groups.In this study, BLL of 78 subjects (Iranian volunteers) in two opium-addicted (patient group) and healthy control groups was evaluated. All the volunteers were men. The patient group was comprised of 39 patients who used opium orally or by inhalation with a mean age of 48.6 ± 7.3 years. The patient group was selected through systematic incidental sampling from 150 orally or by inhalation opium-addicted patients referred to Shariati Hospital located in Tehran .The control group (39 subjects) was matched with the patient group with regard to age and sex and with a mean age of 44.8 ± 5.6 years.The mean concentration of lead was found to be significantly lower (P = 0.0001) in control group (16.70 ± 12.51 ?g/dL) compared to addicts (57.04 ± 46.03 ?g/dL). When the addicts were divided into various age groups, there appeared to be a significant difference (p= 0.0451) in blood lead concentration as a function of age, however when the control group was considered, no difference was observed (P = 0.51). Also, a tendency (P = 0.048) towards increasing BLL with respect to BMI was observed due to drug consumption, but there was no significant variation between BLL concentration and BMI when the control group was considered (P = 0.35).It was observed that the BLL in opium-addicts was significantly higher than that of the healthy control group. The mean difference of both groups was statistically significant.
HubMed – drug

 

The biological control of the malaria vector.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Toxins (Basel). 2012 Sep; 4(9): 748-67
Kamareddine L

The call for malaria control, over the last century, marked a new epoch in the history of this disease. Many control strategies targeting either the Plasmodium parasite or the Anopheles vector were shown to be effective. Yet, the emergence of drug resistant parasites and insecticide resistant mosquito strains, along with numerous health, environmental, and ecological side effects of many chemical agents, highlighted the need to develop alternative tools that either complement or substitute conventional malaria control approaches. The use of biological means is considered a fundamental part of the recently launched malaria eradication program and has so far shown promising results, although this approach is still in its infancy. This review presents an overview of the most promising biological control tools for malaria eradication, namely fungi, bacteria, larvivorous fish, parasites, viruses and nematodes.
HubMed – drug

 

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