scholarly journals Editorial: HIV and Illicit Drugs of Abuse

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkata S. R. Atluri
Keyword(s):  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse

The Use of Prescription Drugs and Drugs of Abuse for Neuroenhancement in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa J. Maier ◽  
Michael P. Schaub
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Adverse Reactions ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Mental Performance ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Monitoring The Future ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract. Pharmacological neuroenhancement, defined as the misuse of prescription drugs, illicit drugs, or alcohol for the purpose of enhancing cognition, mood, or prosocial behavior, is not widespread in Europe – nevertheless, it does occur. Thus far, no drug has been proven as safe and effective for cognitive enhancement in otherwise healthy individuals. European studies have investigated the misuse of prescription and illicit stimulants to increase cognitive performance as well as the use of tranquilizers, alcohol, and cannabis to cope with stress related to work or education. Young people in educational settings report pharmacological neuroenhancement more frequently than those in other settings. Although the regular use of drugs for neuroenhancement is not common in Europe, the irregular and low-dose usage of neuroenhancers might cause adverse reactions. Previous studies have revealed that obtaining adequate amounts of sleep and using successful learning techniques effectively improve mental performance, whereas pharmacological neuroenhancement is associated with ambiguous effects. Therefore, non-substance-related alternatives should be promoted to cope with stressful situations. This paper reviews the recent research on pharmacological neuroenhancement in Europe, develops a clear definition of the substances used, and formulates recommendations for practitioners regarding how to react to requests for neuroenhancement drug prescriptions. We conclude that monitoring the future development of pharmacological neuroenhancement in Europe is important to provide effective preventive measures when required. Furthermore, substance use to cope with stress related to work or education should be studied in depth because it is likely more prevalent and dangerous than direct neuroenhancement.

scholarly journals Alcohol and Drug Use in European University Health Science Students: Relationship with Self-Care Ability

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (24) ◽  
pp. 5042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natura Colomer-Pérez ◽  
Elena Chover-Sierra ◽  
Rut Navarro-Martínez ◽  
Virginia Andriusevičienė ◽  
Eugenia Vlachou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Alcohol Intake ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Health Science ◽  
The Self ◽  
European University ◽  
Care Agency

Background: Drug abuse in university students is an emerging social and health issue. The present study assesses alcohol and abuse of other illicit drugs and the adverse consequences related to such use and its relationship with self-care agency among European university students. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was performed among 592 European students from different health science degrees. The screening of alcohol abuse was evaluated with the Alcohol Use Disorder Test (AUDIT), and the screening for substance-related risks and problems was conducted with the Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, Trouble (CRAFFT) screening test. We analyzed the relationship of substance abuse with self-care agency, assessed by the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale (ASA). Results: 51.4% of the surveyed students reported alcohol intake, 16.6% of the students consumed both alcohol and cannabis, 1.6 % reported alcohol and other illicit drugs, and 3.7% consumed alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs (73.3% of students reported alcohol intake alone or together with cannabis/hashish and/or other illicit drugs). The self-care agency scores were significantly different among groups in relation to certain sociodemographic factors such as gender (p = 0.008) and country of residence (p = 0.031). The self-care agency scores significantly correlated (p = 0.001) with the personal motivations and consequences related to the consumption of drugs of abuse evaluated by the CRAFFT screening tool. Within the ASA domains, the most significant effects were observed regarding the subdomains of resources, awareness, and health behaviors. Conclusions: Self-care agency should be promoted to counteract the health and social consequences of the consumption of drugs of abuse among university students who will be future health care professionals.

Ethylone: A synthetic cathinone emerging in Barcelona

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s860-s860
Author(s):  
M. de Dios ◽  
E. Monteagudo ◽  
A. Trabsa ◽  
M. Grifell ◽  
L. Galindo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Bath Salts ◽  
Energy Control ◽  
Report Analysis ◽  
Synthetic Cathinone ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionSynthetic cathinones, the active component in “bath salts”, have surfaced as a popular alternative to other illicit drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), and methamphetamine, due to their potent psychostimulant and empathogenic effects.ObjectivesTo describe the presence of Ethylone in samples delivered to energy control from 2014 to 2015 in Spain.MethodsThe total number of samples analyzed from 2014 to 2015 was 8324. Only those samples containing ethylone were studied. They were analyzed by energy control, a Spanish harm reduction NGO that offers the possibility of analysing the substances that users report. Analysis was done by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.ResultsFrom June 2014 to December 2015, 8324 samples were delivered to EC. From this samples 28 (0.336%) contained ethylone. Twelve (0.144%) were delivered as MDMA, representing a 0.783% of the samples delivered as such, and only one sample (0.012%) delivered as MDMA presented ethylene as an adulterant along with MDMA. Other 6 samples (0.072%) were delivered as ethylone and 10 samples (0.120%) were delivered as unknown pills.DiscussionEthylone consumption is found to be an emerging issue according to the results of our samples, an increase of such is found during 2015. This might be traduced as an increase of ethylone in the drug market, but a sample selection bias should be considered as samples were voluntary delivered by consumers. An alarming phenomenon is that in some occasions ethylone is sold as MDMA, but effects take longer to occur and last longer, which may lead to an overdose if used as MDMA.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Cartilha sobre prevenção do uso de drogas para adolescentes

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1106
Author(s):  
Maria Ivone Leal De Moura ◽  
Juçara Barroso Leal ◽  
Juliane Barroso Leal ◽  
Victorugo Guedes Alencar Correia ◽  
Joaline Barroso Portela Leal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Development Evaluation ◽  
Style Of Writing ◽  
Tecnología Educativa

RESUMOObjetivo: descrever o processo de produção e validação de uma cartilha educativa direcionada a adolescentes sobre as principais drogas de abuso. Método: trata-se de um estudo quantitativo do tipo metodológico com desenvolvimento, avaliação e aperfeiçoamento de uma cartilha dividida em três fases: a primeira foi a construção, com revisão integrativa da literatura, onde se analisaram as publicações disponíveis sobre prevenção do uso de drogas por adolescentes; a segunda fase foi a validação do material por intermédio de juízes, onde se avaliaram o conteúdo, a linguagem e a aparência da tecnologia educativa; a terceira fase consistiu-se da validação por 40 adolescentes, avaliando o estilo de escrita, a aparência e a apresentação. Utilizaram-se dois instrumentos diferentes para a avaliação e o Índice de Validade de Conteúdo (IVC) para a concordância da cartilha. Resultados: produziu-se o material educativo e validou-se com análise estatística ratificada pelo IVC igual a 0,83, com concordância aceita e o nível de concordância de 97,5% pelos adolescentes. Conclusão: pode-se afirmar que a cartilha intitulada “Drogas: como prevenir?” se mostrou um instrumento válido e confiável para ser utilizado na promoção da saúde e prevenção de drogas em adolescentes. Descritores: Adolescência e Substâncias; Usuários de Drogas; Tecnologia Educacional; Drogas Ilícitas; Comportamento de Risco; Estudos de Validação.ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the process of production and validation of an educative booklet targeted at teenagers on the main drugs of abuse. Method: this is a quantitative study of methodological type. The development, evaluation and improvement of the primer was divided into three stages: the construction with an integrative review of literature, where it analyzed the publications available on prevention of drug use by adolescents; the validation of the material through judges, where they evaluated the content, the language and the appearance of educational technology; and the validation by 40 adolescents evaluating the style of writing, the appearance and presentation. We used two different instruments for the assessment and the Content Validity Index (CVI) for the concordance of the booklet. Results: it produced the educational material and validated with statistical analysis ratified by the CVI equal to 0.83, with concordance accepts and the level of concordance of 97.5% by teenagers. Conclusion: it can be argued that the booklet entitled “Drugs: how to prevent?” proved to be a valid and reliable tool to be used on health promotion and prevention of drug use in adolescents. Descriptors: Adolescence and Substances; Drug Users; Educational Technology; Illicit Drugs; Risk Behavior; Validation Studies.RESUMEN Objetivo: describir el proceso de producción y la validación de un folleto educativo dirigido a los adolescentes enfocando las principales drogas de abuso. Método: se trata de un estudio cuantitativo del tipo metodológico con desarrollo, evaluación y mejora de una imprimación dividida en tres etapas: la primera fue la construcción, con la revisión de la literatura integradora, donde analizó las publicaciones disponibles acerca de la prevención contra el uso indebido de drogas por los adolescentes; la segunda fue la validación del material a través de los jueces, donde se evaluó el contenido, el lenguaje y la aparición de la tecnología educativa; la tercera etapa consistió en la validación por 40 adolescentes, evaluando el estilo de redacción, la apariencia y la presentación. Se aplican dos tipos de herramientas para la evaluación y el índice de validez de contenido (CVI) para la concordancia del folleto. Resultados: los materiales educativos producidos y validados con análisis estadísticos ratificados por el CVI igual a 0,83, con concordancia acepta y el nivel de concordancia de 97,5% de los adolescentes. Conclusión: se puede argumentar que el folleto titulado “?Drogas: cómo prevenir?” resultó ser un instrumento válido y fiable para ser usado en la promoción de la salud y prevención del consumo de drogas en los adolescentes. Descriptores: Adolescencia y Sustancias; Usuarios de Drogas; Tecnología Educativa; Drogas Ilícitas; Comportamiento de Riesgo; Estudios de Validación.

Other Illicit Drugs of Abuse in Adolescence

2016 ◽  
pp. 188-204
Author(s):  
Danielle Ramo ◽  
Christian Grov
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Adolescent Substance ◽  
Illicit Substance Use ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Demographic Patterns

Illicit drugs other than marijuana have a unique and important place in the picture of adolescent substance use and associated problems. Large, epidemiological studies have revealed that, although the use of individual drugs (other than marijuana) may fluctuate widely, the proportion of adolescents using any of them has been more stable in the decade between 2000 and 2010, compared to decades prior. In this chapter, we give an overview of illicit substance use in adolescence, including cocaine/crack, methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy, MDMA, LSD, and GHB. We review epidemiological patterns of use among youth, including modes of use and common trajectories of use. We discuss cognitive, behavioral, and social contexts of other drug use in adolescence, and we review demographic patterns of use. We conclude by reviewing similarities and differences between substances.

scholarly journals Molecular genetics of cocaine use disorders in humans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noèlia Fernàndez-Castillo ◽  
Judit Cabana-Domínguez ◽  
Roser Corominas ◽  
Bru Cormand
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Cocaine Addiction ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Cocaine Use

AbstractDrug addiction, one of the major health problems worldwide, is characterized by the loss of control in drug intake, craving, and withdrawal. At the individual level, drugs of abuse produce serious consequences on health and have a negative impact on the family environment and on interpersonal and work relationships. At a wider scale, they have significant socio-economic and public health consequences and they cause delinquency and citizen insecurity. Cocaine, a psychostimulant substance, is one of the most used illicit drugs, especially in America, Western Europe, and Australia. Cocaine use disorders (CUD) are complex multifactorial conditions driven by both genetic and environmental influences. Importantly, not all people who use cocaine develop CUD, and this is due, at least in part, to biological factors that are encoded in the genome of individuals. Acute and repeated use of cocaine induces epigenetic and gene expression changes responsible for the neuronal adaptations and the remodeling of brain circuits that lead to the transition from use to abuse or dependence. The purpose of this review is to delineate such factors, which should eventually help to understand the inter-individual variability in the susceptibility to cocaine addiction. Heritability estimates for CUD are high and genetic risk factors for cocaine addiction have been investigated by candidate gene association studies (CGAS) and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), reviewed here. Also, the high comorbidity that exists between CUD and several other psychiatric disorders is well known and includes phenotypes like schizophrenia, aggression, antisocial or risk-taking behaviors. Such comorbidities are associated with a worse lifetime trajectory, and here we report shared genetic factors that may contribute to them. Gene expression changes and epigenetic modifications induced by cocaine use and chronic abuse in humans are addressed by reviewing transcriptomic studies performed on neuronal cells and on postmortem brains. We report some genes which expression is altered by cocaine that also bear genetic risk variants for the disorder. Finally, we have a glance to the pharmacogenetics of CUD treatments, still in early stages. A better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of CUD will foster the search of effective treatments and help to move forward to personalized medicine.

Separation and Determination of the Enantiomeric Levamisole and Dexamisole in Equine Plasma Samples Using Chiral Polysaccharide Column/ LC-MS/MS

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 761-767
Author(s):  
Abdul Khader Karakka Kal ◽  
Tajudheen K. Karatt ◽  
Moses Philip ◽  
Samir Meissir ◽  
Jahfar Nalakath
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phase ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Limit Of Quantification ◽  
Column Temperature ◽  
Drug Enforcement Administration ◽  
Equine Plasma ◽  
The Matrix

Background: Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed that many manufacturers began adding tetramisole or its individual isomers to cocaine as an adulterant, and believed that tetramisole may augment cocaine’s effects. In recent times, there is an increasing trend in the usage of tetramisole and its individual enantiomer in race sports especially in horse and camel races. So it’s is very much required to confirm the stereochemistry of this illicit drug in the routine race day samples coming to the anti-doping labs in order to avoid legal arguments and challenges to the analytical findings. Methods: The aim of the study was to develop a simple, rapid and accurate method for the chiral separation and determination of enantiomeric mixtures of levamisole and dexamisole using Thermo Q-Exactive High-Resolution Mass Spectrometer. In order to evaluate the suitability of the method for determining the enantiomeric purity of tetramisole, validation studies were also carried out by using equine plasma. Results: The enantio-separation was achieved using the Lux i-cellulose-5 column. Isocratic flow was used with a 1:1 mixture of mobile phase A (10 mM ammonium acetate in water) and mobile phase B (acetonitrile), at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. The run time was 8.0 min, and the column temperature was 50°C. Dexamisole eluted at 5.94 min, and levamisole eluted at 6.62 min, giving the R-value of 1.50. The obtained inter-day precisions of dexamisole, levamisole were 3.16% and 2.85%, respectively. The accuracy of dexamisole was in the range of 97.78 to 102.44%, and that for levamisole was 99.16 to 102.82%. The limit of quantification value for both isomers in this method was 0.1 ng/ mL. The method was linear in the range of 0 to 50 ng/mL. Conclusion: Chromatographic separation was achieved using the polysaccharide cellulose chiral column, and the reverse-phase separation approach was found to have the highest potential for successful chiral resolution in LC-MS. Linearity, precision, accuracy, detection limit, recovery, and the matrix effect in equine plasma were determined. Under the optimized conditions, the validated method can be applied for the identification and detection of the tetramisole enantiomers in different sources of illicit drugs of abuse.

ILLICIT DRUGS OF ABUSE

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-230
Author(s):  
Jerome E. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse

3,4-methylene-dioxy-pyrovalerone (MDPV) epidemic?

2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (50) ◽  
pp. 2010-2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miklós Péter Kalapos
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Panic Attack ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Glucuronic Acid ◽  
Designer Drugs ◽  
Designer Drug ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Street Price

Little is known about 3,4-methylene-dioxy-pyrovalerone (MDPV), a new designer drug that has become popular in Hungary in the last couple of months. At the same time, its consumption as a consequence of its low street-price rises so fast that the event can be considered as an epidemic. This paper reviews the chemistry, biochemistry and metabolism of MDPV, then, on the basis of few international reports and clinical observations of the author of his own, discusses MDPV intoxication and withdrawal. In the metabolism of MDPV, the most important catalyst is the CYP2C19 isoenzyme, but the CYP1A2 and the CYP2D6 isoenzymes also play a crucial role. The formed catechols are conjugated with either glucuronic acid or sulfate. It is important to note that MDPV is consumed either together or in a sequence with other illicit drugs of abuse. As far as it can be established, MDPV use increases the activity and vigilance, decreases appetite and claim to sleep, but it can also provoke cardiac sensations and disturbance of perception. In the course of coming down, withdrawal after MDPV use, bone and muscle pain, hypersomnia, disturbance of vision are experienced, but panic attack may also occur. The appearance of new designer drugs on the market draws attention to a need of paradigm changing in spiritual field. Unless it happens these negative trends shall speed up. Orv. Hetil., 2011, 152, 2010–2019.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document