Effectiveness of the universal prevention program 'Healthy School and Drugs': Study protocol of a randomized clustered trial

Contains fulltext : 90260.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background: Substance use is highly prevalent among Dutch adolescents. The Healthy School and Drugs program is a nationally implemented school-based prevention program aimed at reducing early and excessive substance use among adolescents. Although the program's effectiveness was tested in a quasi-experimental design before, many program changes were made afterwards. The present study, therefore, aims to test the effects of this widely used, renewed universal prevention program. Methods/Design: A randomized clustered trial will be conducted among 3,784 adolescents of 23 secondary schools in The Netherlands. The trial has three conditions; two intervention conditions (i.e., e-learning and integral) and a control condition. The e-learning condition consists of three digital learning modules (i.e., about alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) that are sequentially offered over the course of three school years (i.e., grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3). The integral condition consists of parental participation in a parental meeting on substance use, regulation of substance use, and monitoring and counseling of students' substance use at school, over and above the three digital modules. The control condition is characterized as business as usual. Participating schools were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Participants filled out a digital questionnaire at baseline and will fill out the same questionnaire three more times at follow-up measurements (8, 20, and 32 months after baseline). Outcome variables included in the questionnaire are the percentage of binge drinking (more than five drinks per occasion), the average weekly number of drinks, and the percentage of adolescents who ever drunk a glass of alcohol and the percentage of adolescents who ever smoked a cigarette or a joint respectively for tobacco and marijuana. Discussion: This study protocol describes the design of a randomized clustered trial that evaluates the effectiveness of a school-based prevention program. We expect that significantly fewer adolescents will engage in early or excessive substance use behaviors in the intervention conditions compared to the control condition as a direct result of the intervention. We expect that the integral condition will yield most positive results, compared with the e-learning condition and control condition.10 p

Initiation and continuation of best friends and adolescents' alcohol consumption: Do self-esteem and self-control function as moderators?

Contains fulltext : 90374.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)In this three-wave longitudinal survey, we investigated bi-directional longitudinal associations between best friends and adolescents' alcohol consumption. Additionally, since the relation between best friends and adolescents' drinking may be stronger if adolescents have not consumed alcohol yet, we examined this relation not only with regard to continuation but also with regard to the initiation of adolescent drinking. We also hypothesized that low levels of self-esteem and self-control in youths would be related to a higher susceptibility to the impact of their best friends' drinking. Data were used from 433 adolescents and their best friends. Results of SEM analyses did not provide evidence for bi-directional associations between best friends and adolescents' alcohol use over time. Nevertheless, the results of additional growth curve analyses indicated that adolescents and best friends' drinking does seem to develop in a similar fashion over time. Adolescents' self-esteem, self-control, and gender did not moderate longitudinal associations between best friends and adolescents' drinking. The discussion focuses on methodological and theoretical explanations for the absence of significant longitudinal relations between best friends and adolescents' drinking

The P2X7 receptor mediates the uptake of organic cations in canine erythrocytes and mononuclear leukocytes: comparison to equivalent human cell types

We previously demonstrated that canine erythrocytes express the P2X7 receptor, and that the function and expression of this receptor is greatly increased compared with human erythrocytes. Using 86Rb+ (K+) and organic cation flux measurements, we further compared P2X7 in erythrocytes and mononuclear leukocytes from these species. Concentration response curves of BzATP- and ATP-induced 86Rb+ efflux demonstrated that canine P2X7 was less sensitive to inhibition by extracellular Na+ ions compared to human P2X7. In contrast, canine and human P2X7 showed a similar sensitivity to the P2X7 antagonists KN-62 and Mg2+. KN-62 and Mg2+ also inhibited ATP-induced choline+ uptake into canine and human erythrocytes. BzATP and ATP but not ADP or NAD induced ethidium+ uptake into canine monocytes, T- and B-cells. ATP-induced ethidium+ uptake was twofold greater in canine T-cells compared to canine B-cells and monocytes. KN-62 inhibited the ATP-induced ethidium+ uptake in each cell type. P2X7-mediated uptake of organic cations was 40- and fivefold greater in canine erythrocytes and lymphocytes (T- and B-cells), respectively, compared to equivalent human cell types. In contrast, P2X7 function was threefold lower in canine monocytes compared to human monocytes. Thus, P2X7 activation can induce the uptake of organic cations into canine erythrocytes and mononuclear leukocytes, but the relative levels of P2X7 function differ to that of equivalent human cell types

Mouse Leydig cells express multiple P2X receptor subunits

ATP acts on cellular membranes by interacting with P2X (ionotropic) and P2Y (metabotropic) receptors. Seven homomeric P2X receptors (P2X1–P2X7) and seven heteromeric receptors (P2X1/2, P2X1/4, P2X1/5, P2X2/3, P2X2/6, P2X4/6, P2X4/7) have been described. ATP treatment of Leydig cells leads to an increase in [Ca2+]i and testosterone secretion, supporting the hypothesis that Ca2+ signaling through purinergic receptors contributes to the process of testosterone secretion in these cells. Mouse Leydig cells have P2X receptors with a pharmacological and biophysical profile resembling P2X2. In this work, we describe the presence of several P2X receptor subunits in mouse Leydig cells. Western blot experiments showed the presence of P2X2, P2X4, P2X6, and P2X7 subunits. These results were confirmed by immunofluorescence. Functional results support the hypothesis that heteromeric receptors are present in these cells since 0.5 μM ivermectin induced an increase (131.2 ± 5.9%) and 3 μM ivermectin a decrease (64.2 ± 4.8%) in the whole-cell currents evoked by ATP. These results indicate the presence of functional P2X4 subunits. P2X7 receptors were also present, but they were non-functional under the present conditions because dye uptake experiments with Lucifer yellow and ethidium bromide were negative. We conclude that a heteromeric channel, possibly P2X2/4/6, is present in Leydig cells, but with an electrophysiological and pharmacological phenotype characteristic of the P2X2 subunit