Correlates of Unprotected Sex in a Sample of Young club Drug Users

OBJECTIVES: To assess the demographic characteristics, psychiatric symptoms, substance use patterns, and sexual risk behaviors in a sample of club drug users to identify factors associated with unprotected sex during the 12 months prior to the interview. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed the targeted sampling and ethnographic mapping approaches via face-to-face interviews conducted at bars and electronic music festivals using an adapted, semi-structured version of the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs questionnaire. The sample comprised 240 male and female young adults who had used ecstasy and/or LSD in the 90 days prior to the interview and who were not receiving treatment for alcohol or drug abuse. RESULTS: Of the 240 subjects selected (mean age: 22.9±4.5 years), 57.9% were men; of the male subjects, 52.5% reported having had unprotected sex in the previous 12 months. Of the total sample, 63.33% reported having had unprotected sex. Multivariate regression analysis showed that anal sex (PR = 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.044-1.543; p = 0.017) and the use of alcohol/drugs to make sex last longer (PR = 1.430; 95% CI: 1.181-1.732; p CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of intervention strategies aimed at reducing sexually risky behaviors should take into consideration the specific characteristics of drug users and should include the development of safer sex negotiation skills

Telomere length and epigenetic age acceleration in adolescents with anxiety disorders

Evidence on the relationship between genetics and mental health are flourishing. However, few studies are evaluating early biomarkers that might link genes, environment, and psychopathology. We aimed to study telomere length (TL) and epigenetic age acceleration (AA) in a cohort of adolescents with and without anxiety disorders (N = 234). We evaluated a representative subsample of participants at baseline and after 5 years (n = 76) and categorized them according to their anxiety disorder diagnosis at both time points: (1) control group (no anxiety disorder, n = 18), (2) variable group (anxiety disorder in one evaluation, n = 38), and (3) persistent group (anxiety disorder at both time points, n = 20). We assessed relative mean TL by real-time quantitative PCR and DNA methylation by Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. We calculated AA using the Horvath age estimation algorithm and analyzed differences among groups using generalized linear mixed models. The persistent group of anxiety disorder did not change TL over time (p = 0.495). The variable group had higher baseline TL (p = 0.003) but no accelerated TL erosion in comparison to the non-anxiety control group (p = 0.053). Furthermore, there were no differences in AA among groups over time. Our findings suggest that adolescents with chronic anxiety did not change telomere length over time, which could be related to a delay in neuronal development in this period of life

Active Brazilian crack cocaine users: nutritional, anthropometric, and drug use profiles

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of crack users and to analyze its correlation with drug use profiles. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 108 crack users. Anthropometric data were assessed through body mass index (BMI) and bioimpedance (BIA) measurements. A blood test to analyze hematocrit, hemoglobin, glucose, and lipid profiles was also performed. Crack use was determined through a standardized interview. Results: Based on BMI and BIA, most individuals were eutrophic (about 70%). Regarding hematological parameters, we found that hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were below normal for 32.4 and 30.6% of patients, respectively. Considering normal parameters, a large part of the sample (60.2%) had low levels of HDL cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides (38%). There were no significant correlations between drug profile and nutritional variables. Conclusion: This is a pioneering study that examines the nutritional status of crack users. Our results showed that most crack users present normal anthropometric findings and the prevalence of underweight is low. However, blood analysis showed changes and a specific type of malnutrition