The pain of low status: the relationship between subjective socio-economic status and analgesic prescriptions in a Scottish community sample

There is a strong positive relationship between objective measures of socioeconomic status (OSS) and general health. However, there is an increasing interest in the relationship between health and subjective socioeconomic status (SSS), which describes one’s perceived rank in relation to the rest of society, based on factors such as income, occupation, and education. While the relationship between SSS and general health is well2established, the relationship between SSS and pain has received little attention. Gathering both self2report questionnaire data and General Practitioner medical data from a large representative community sample in Scotland between 2012 and 2013 ( N = 1824), we investigated the relationship between SSS and prescriptions for analgesic drugs. We found that higher levels of SSS significantly predicted lower odds of participants having been prescribed at least one analgesic drug in the previous six months. We obtained this result even after controlling for OSS2related variables (education, occupational status, and geographical location) and demographic variables (age and gender). This suggests that, just like the relationship between SSS and general health, SSS has important effects on pain that go beyond the influence of OSS

Log D7.4 and plasma protein binding of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and a comparison of experimental and predicted lipophilicity

The emergence of new synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) onto the illicit drugs market continues to cause harm, and the overall availability of physicochemical and pharmacokinetic data for new psychoactive substances is lacking. The lipophilicity of 23 SCRAs and the plasma protein binding (PPB) of 11 SCRAs was determined. Lipophilicity was determined using a validated chromatographic hydrophobicity index (CHI) log D method; tested SCRAs showed moderate to high lipophilicity, with experimental log D7.4 ranging from 2.48 (AB-FUBINACA) to 4.95 (4F-ABUTINACA). These results were also compared to in silico predictions generated using seven commercially available software packages and online tools (Canvas; ChemDraw; Gastroplus; MoKa; PreADMET; SwissADME; and XlogP). Licenced, dedicated software packages provided more accurate lipophilicity predictions than those which were free or had prediction as a secondary function; however, the latter still provided competitive estimates in most cases. PPB of tested SCRAs, as determined by equilibrium dialysis, was in the upper range of the lipophilicity scale, ranging from 90.8% (ADB-BUTINACA) to 99.9% (BZO-HEXOXIZID). The high PPB of these drugs may contribute to reduced rate of clearance and extended durations of pharmacological effects compared to lesser-bound SCRAs. The presented data improve understanding of the behaviour of these drugs in the body. Ultimately, similar data and predictions may be used in the prediction of the structure and properties of drugs yet to emerge on the illicit market

Greater number of group identifications is associated with lower odds of being depressed: evidence from a Scottish community sample

Purpose: Group identification has been shown to be associated with reduced risk of depression, but this research has important limitations. Our aim was to establish a robust link between group identification and depression whilst overcoming previous studies’ shortcomings. Methods: 1824 participants, recruited from General Practice throughout Scotland, completed a questionnaire measuring their identification with three groups (family, community, and a group of their choice), as well as their intensity of contact with each group. They also completed a self-rated depression measure and provided demographic information. Their medical records were also accessed in order to determine if they had been prescribed antidepressants in the previous six months. Results: Number of group identifications was associated with both lower self-rated depression and lower odds of having received a prescription for antidepressants, even after controlling for number of contact-intensive groups, level of education, gender, age, and relationship status. Conclusions: Identifying with multiple groups may help to protect individuals against depression. This highlights the potential importance of social prescriptions, where health professionals encourage a depressed patient to become a member of one or more groups with which the patient believes he/she would be likely to identify

Determining the optimum derivatizing agents and parameters to improve the detection of anabolic-androgenic steroids

Introduction: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) typically require derivatization to increase the volatility and/or thermal stability of compounds to make the compound more amenable for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The typical method of derivatization used for AASs is trimethylation using MSTFA with the occasional addition of various catalysts, although some methods also utilize BSTFA with 1% TMCS. Typically, derivatization of AASs via the addition of MSTFA is usually carried out by heating at 60°C for 1hr. Publications have used microwave assisted derivatization (MAD) for steroids which has shown to significantly decrease long derivatization times.Objective: To determine the yields of AASs subjected to traditional derivatization methods and microwave-assisted derivatization (MAD).Methods: To 4 mL vials (n=5), 100 μL (10 ug/mL) of methanolic solutions of 17α-methyltestosterone, 19-norandrosterone, 2α-methyl androsterone, 6β-hydroxy metandienone, boldenone, clenbuterol, clostebol, DHEA, drostanolone, epitestosterone, fluoxymesterone, testosterone, mestanolone, mesterolone, metandienone, methylclostebol, oxandrolone, oxymetholone and diazepam (internal standard) were added. Diazepam was chosen as the internal standard as this does not undergo derivatization. Vials were then evaporated to dryness using a Genevac (DNA-23050-A00). Samples (n=5) were then reconstituted in 50 μL MSTFA, BSTFA +1% TMCS or MSTFA/NH4I/ethanethiol before being microwaved at 700W using an iGENIX microwave (Model: IG2071) for 30s, 1mins, 3mins or 5mins. Additionally, the AAS mixes were subjected to room temperature (control), and conventional heating at 37°C, 50°C, 75°C, 90°C utilizing a TECHNE Dri-Block DB-2D for 15mins, 30mins,1hr and 2hrs. After heating, the AAS mixes were analyzed using an Agilent 7820A GC (column: Zebron ZB-1 (30m x 0.25mm, 0.25μm)) coupled with a mass spectrometer 5977B MSD (Agilent Technologies Inc., UK). The average peak area ratio (APAR) was calculated using the peak area response for diazepam and each analyte, allowing for a degree of normalization between parameters, as well as accounting for any inter- and intraday differences. SPSS (version 28) was used to conduct a MANOVA to determine any statistical significance of results.Results: MSTFA/NH4I/ethanethiol outperformed MSTFA and BSTFA +1% TMCS (p<0.05) in almost all circumstances for all analytes. The overall optimal method was found to be MSTFA/NH4I/ethanethiol incubated for 15mins at 37°C using the traditional heat block. It was found that longer incubation times resulted in lower average peak area ratios (APARs) using the traditional heating block and microwave. As microwave samples were subjected to longer heat times the coefficient of variation also increased. This was potentially due to the difference in temperature experienced by the samples due to varied positioning within the microwave, meaning each vial was exposed to different paths of microwave deflection.Discussion: The results of this project show that AASs can be successfully derivatized using MAD, producing consistently detectable APAR comparable to traditional heating block incubation methods, in a much shorter time frame. Overall, MSTFA/NH4I/ethanethiol was shown to produce the highest APARs for the AASs derivatized. The use of MAD significantly reduces sample preparation time resulting in faster GC-MS methods for the routine detection and analysis of these analytes