Urinary extract profiles of illegal substances at psychiatry and dependency clinics: three years report

Background: Substance abuse is a serious problem all over the world. There are many studies report the illegal substance use profile but few studies present their toxicology laboratory analysis. This study reports a quantitative profile of (Urine Drug Screening)) for illegal substances in Sakarya-Turkey.Methods: This study presents the urine analysis of all illegal substances which were made in the laboratory of Sakarya Training Research Hospital between March 2012 and February 2015. The results obtained from socio-demographic data and urine tests of patients were analyzed by examining their hospital record files. Urine drug screening was conducted with immunoassay quantitative analysis.Results: People subjected to substance analysis (n=2948) ages vary between 12 and 76, their mean age was 28.30±9.46. 96.74% (n=2852) of them were males. Substance positivity was determined in 34.73% of all patients (n=1024/2948) and their ages varied between 14 and 70 and their mean age was 29.39±9.65. Distribution of the urine positivity of the substances contained: marijuana 79, 5% (n=814), amphetamine 30.17% (n=309), ecstasy 23.74% (n=199), benzodiazepine 9,1% (n=94), synthetic cannabinoid 4.9% (n=12/243); opioid 5.2% (n=54), cocaine 1.67% (n=14) and multiple substance 29.9% (n=308).Conclusions: According to this study, marijuana is the most frequently used substance and multiple substance use is common. Synthetic cannabinoid seems to take place rapidly among the users. Updating the kits is important to reach the correct information in drug screening tests

Results of reference pricing and reimbursement discount rate schemes of Turkey

OBJECTIVES: General Directorate of Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacy (IEGM) is responsible for setting all prices for human medicinal products. The reference pricing system is used for setting these prices. Reference countries are reviewed annually and may be subject to certain alterations. There were 5 reference countries in 2009: Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Greece. The aim of this study is to show the distribution of reference countries which were used for reference pricing.METHODS: The price list of pharmaceuticals which was published by IEGM on 15.04.2011 was used for analysis. Distribution of reference countries and prices were evaluated.RESULTS: Prices of 6,251 generic and 3,703 original products were set according to the price list. 5,283 of generics and 3,306 of originals were in the positive list for reimbursement. Reference pricing was used for 2,352 generics and 2,281 originals. Prices of the remaining were set outside of reference pricing. 32 different countries were used for reference pricing. Italy was the most popular country for reference pricing. Even if it was not a reference country, Germany was used in some of the pharmaceuticals. The average reimbursement discount rate and price were 24.43% and 249 TL, respectively. There were no colerations between price and reimbursement discount rate, or reference country and reimbursement rate.CONCLUSION: It has been shown that Italy has the highest impact on the pricing of all pharmaceuticals in Turkey. Even if it was not a reference country, Germany showed to affect pharmaceuticals more than other countries which were also not used for reference pricing. Even if reimbursement discount rates are stated by the Social Security Institution (SGK), there are different discount rates for pharmaceuticals. The analysis stated that there were correlation between price, country and discount rates. This analysis is first for the literature. Further analysis is necessary in the light of price changes and newly launched pharmaceuticals

Effects of olanzapine, sertindole and clozapine on MK-801 induced visual memory deficits in mice

Male Balb-c mice were treated with olanzapine (0.2.0.4 and 0.6 mg/kg; i.p.), sertindole (0.63,1.3 and 2.5 mg/kg; s.c.) or clozapine (0.5 and 1 mg/kg; i.p.). and cognitive deficits were induced by MK-801 (0.2 mg/kg; i.p.) administration. Olanzapine treatment decreased the ratio index in the NOR test, whereas sertindole anti clozapine had no effect in naive mice. MK-801-induced cognitive impairment was reversed by treatment with olanzapine, sertindole or clozapine. While olanzapine. sertindole and clozapine had no effect on the anxiety of naive mice as determined by the open field test, MK-801 significantly increased the total distance traveled, time spent in the center zone and the velocity of the animals. MK-801-induced effects on locomotion and anxiety in the open field test were reversed by olanzapine, sertindole or clozapine treatment. The results of the present study demonstrated that olanzapine, sertindole and clozapine improved cognition in MK-801 treated mice, and indicate that these drugs have a potential to improve cognition in schizophrenia. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved