229 research outputs found
Former heroin-dependent alcohol use disorder patients. prevalence, addiction history and clinical features
Aims: To examine the prevalence of former heroin dependence (FHA) in Alcohol Use Disorder
(AUD) patients; to compare the clinical characteristics of FHA-AUD patients versus AUD patients
without any past use of heroin at alcohol treatment entry; to document the heroin dependence history of FHA-AUD patients, and review treatment strategies for this group.
Methods: Retrospective case review of 448 consecutive AUD patients.
Results: The annual entry of FHA-AUD showed stability over the study period of 3 years overall 60/
448 (13.3%). FHA-AUD patients showed higher concomitant use of cocaine, benzodiazepines, cannabis and hallucinogens than other heroin addicts. They consumed higher amounts of alcohol at the
beginning of their alcohol dependence history, and reached a high maximum level of alcohol consumption, than other AUD patients, and tended to have more physical disorders. The most important
signals of FHA-AUD were polyabuse and older age at the time of presentation. FHA-AUD patients
tended to have had a severe pattern of heroin dependence associated with inadequate agonist opiate
treatment.
Conclusions: The prevalence of FHA-AUD patients is not negligible. This may relate to previous inadequate treatment of heroin addiction contributing to the development of severe AUD. For these
patients we propose a reconsideration of ‘soft’ (low dose) agonist opiate treatment
Unreliable estimation of prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome
Svetlana Popova and colleagues (March, 2017)1 sought to estimate the global, regional, and national prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The authors reviewed inter-national literature from 1984 for country-specific quantitative studies and for countries with one or no studies they predicted gestational alcohol use prevalence by fractional response regression modelling and prevalence of FAS by an estimated quotient for the average number of women consuming alcohol during pregnancy per one case of FAS. For estimation of FAS prevalence, Italy was reported to be among the five countries worldwide with the highest prevalence of FAS per 10000 peopl
Future newborns with opioid-induced neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) could be assessed with the genetic addiction risk severity (GARS) test and potentially treated using precision amino-acid enkephalinase inhibition therapy (KB220) as a frontline modality instead of potent opioids
In this nonsystematic review and opinion, including articles primarily selected from PubMed, we examine the pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in order to craft a reasonable opinion to help forge a paradigm shift in the treatment and prevention of primarily opioid-induced NAS. Newborns of individuals who use illicit and licit substances during pregnancy are at risk for withdrawal, also known as NAS. In the US, the reported prevalence of NAS has increased from 4.0 per 1000 hospital births in 2010 to 7.3 per 1000 hospital births in 2017, which is an 82% increase. The management of NAS is varied and involves a combination of nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapy. The preferred first-line pharmacological treatment for NAS is opioid therapy, specifically morphine, and the goal is the short-term improvement in NAS symptomatology. Nonpharmacological therapies are individualized and typically focus on general care measures, the newborn-parent/caregiver relationship, the environment, and feeding. When used appropriately, nonpharmacologic therapies can help newborns with NAS avoid or reduce the amount of pharmacologic therapy required and the length of hospitalization. In addition, genetic polymorphisms of the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) and mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) genes appear to affect the length of stay and the need for pharmacotherapy in newborns with prenatal opioid exposure. Therefore, based on this extensive literature and additional research, this team of coauthors suggests that, in the future, in addition to the current nonpharmacological therapies, patients with opioid-induced NAS should undergo genetic assessment (i.e., the genetic addiction risk severity (GARS) test), which can subsequently be used to guide DNA-directed precision amino-acid enkephalinase inhibition (KB220) therapy as a frontline modality instead of potent opioids
Olive polyphenol effects in a mouse model of chronic ethanol addiction
Objectives Alcohol addiction elicits oxidative imbalance and it is well known that polyphenols possess antioxidant properties. We investigated whether or not polyphenols could confer a protective potential against alcohol-induced oxidative stress. Methods We administered (per os) for two months 20 mg/kg of olive polyphenols containing mostly hydroxytyrosol in alcoholic adult male mice. Hydroxytyrosol metabolites as hydroxytyrosol sulfate 1 and hydroxytyrosol sulfate 2 were found in the serum of mice administered with polyphenols with the highest amount in animals treated with both polyphenols and alcohol. Oxidative stress was evaluated by FORT (free oxygen radical test) and FORD (free oxygen radical defense) tests. Results Alcoholic mice showed a worse oxidative status than nonalcoholic mice (higher FORT and lower FORD) but polyphenol supplementation partially counteracted the alcohol pro-oxidant effects, as evidenced by FORT. Conclusions A better understanding of the antioxidant protection provided by polyphenols might be of primary interest for drug discovery and dietary-based prevention of the damage associated with chronic alcohol abus
Investigating alcohol consumption during pregnancy for the prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
The term FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) is used to
describe the entire spectrum of pathologies and disorders caused
by alcohol exposure in uterus. Alcohol assumed in pregnancy
passes directly through the placental barrier causing a broad range
of symptoms whose severity can greatly vary in degree. The alcohol
teratogenic effect may result in physical damage and specific
facial anomalies, growth delays, neurological defects along with
intellectual disabilities and behavioral problems. Children affected
show difficulties in verbal learning, memory, visual-spatial abilities,
attention, logic and math abilities, information processing, executive
functions as well as in many other domains and in general coping
with daily life. Total abstention from alcohol during pregnancy is
strongly recommended, as a safe threshold of consumption has
not been established yet. Hence, the early identification of alcohol
consumption in pregnancy is crucial. Specific methodologies to
overcome difficulties related to the identification of alcohol behavior
in pregnant women are needed and intervention protocols should
be implemented to prevent damage in offsprings. This paper
gives an overview on this pathology, from clinical delineation
to epidemiology and risk factors with a special focus to promote
alcohol-free pregnanc
Role of neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY) in ethanol addiction
Here, an overview of neurophysiological, pharmacological and genetic research on the role of neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY) in ethanol consumption and withdrawal is presented. NPY is abundantly expressed in the extended amygdala and is critically involved in the regulation of negative affective states in rats, also is involved with neurobiological responses to ethanol and other drug of abuse. Genetic, molecular and pharmacological evidences suggest that NPY is an important neurobiological substrate for the predisposition to alcoholism. Administration, as well as the withdrawal of ethanol, alters central NPY expression. Alcohol- preferring rats exhibit basal NPY deficits in central amygdala. In the latter, NPY may rescue dependence-induced increases in anxiety and alcohol drinking. Low NPY levels in some brain regions following ethanol withdrawal contribute to the increased sensitivity to seizure and the heightened levels of anxiety characteristic of withdrawal responses. Mice with deletion of NPY gene exhibit a high-anxiety, high-alcohol-drinking phenotype. Pharmacological and genetic manipulations suggest that central NPY signaling modulates ethanol consumption via Y1, Y2, and Y5 receptors. Analysis of chromosomal regions (QTLs) associated with alcohol consumption identified NPY as one of the genes that influence alcohol dependence and as a promising target for pharmacotherapeutics to combat alcohol associated disorders. Consequently, NPY is a potentially new pharmacological target for the treatment of alcohol diseases
Role of Neuropeptide Tyrosine (NPY) in Ethanol Addiction
Here, an overview of neurophysiological, pharmacological and genetic research on the role of neuropeptide tyrosine (NPY) in ethanol consumption and withdrawal is presented. NPY is abundantly expressed in the extended amygdala and is critically involved in the regulation of negative affective states in rats, also is involved with neurobiological responses to ethanol and other drug of abuse. Genetic, molecular and pharmacological evidences suggest that NPY is an important neurobiological substrate for the predisposition to alcoholism. Administration, as well as the withdrawal of ethanol, alters central NPY expression. Alcohol-preferring rats exhibit basal NPY deficits in central amygdala. In the latter, NPY may rescue dependence-induced increases in anxiety and alcohol drinking. Low NPY levels in some brain regions following ethanol withdrawal contribute to the increased sensitivity to seizure and the heightened levels of anxiety characteristic of withdrawal responses. Mice with deletion of NPY gene exhibit a high-anxiety, high-alcohol-drinking phenotype. Pharmacological and genetic manipulations suggest that central NPY signaling modulates ethanol consumption via Y1, Y2, and Y5 receptors. Analysis of chromosomal regions (QTLs) associated with alcohol consumption identified NPY as one of the genes that influence alcohol dependence and as a promising target for pharmacotherapeutics to combat alcohol associated disorders. Consequently, NPY is a potentially new pharmacological target for the treatment of alcohol diseases
Neurophysiological Measures and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD): Hypothesizing Links between Clinical Severity Index and Molecular Neurobiological Patterns
In 1987, Cloninger proposed a clinical description and classification of different personality traits genetically defined and independent from each other. Moreover, he elaborated a specific test the TCI to investigate these traits/states. The study of craving in Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) assumed a greater significance, since ever more data seems to suggest a direct correlation between high levels of craving and a higher risk of relapse in alcoholics. Thus, our study aim is to explore the possible correlations among TCI linked molecular neurobiological pattern (s), craving and alcohol addiction severity measures in a sample of Italian alcoholics
Interleukin-8 and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the second most common neoplasm of the upper aerodigestive tract after cancer of the oral cavity. Over the past two decades, even though patients have benefited greatly from the latest advances in surgical techniques, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the survival rate of LSCC has not improved significantly. It is reported that changes in the expression of cytokines and growth factors have implications in the malignant transformation of many cancers including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and, more recently, LSCC. It has been hypothesized that some of these cytokines may be used as additional diagnostic markers in the sera of patients because of their excessive production by the tumor cells. This could be of great value since there are currently no reliable markers to predict either tumor development or relapse. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), a chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8 (CXCL8), is now reported to play an important role in cancer invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. Recent studies have shown an increased concentration of IL-8 in patients with LSCC and a positive association with lymph node metastasis and T classification. Interleukin-8 levels were not significantly associated with shorter overall survival and cancer progression-free survival. The investigation of the mechanisms of origin, invasion, and metastasis of the cancer is one of the emergent and most promising scientific fields in head and neck cancer, especially in LSCC. Biomarkers such as IL-8 could have a role as a screening test and as a support of the clinical decisions for appropriate therapy and postoperative care in individual patients
Functional outcomes in supracricoid laryngectomy
Supracricoid laryngectomies (SCLs) are conservative surgical techniques for the treatment of selected laryngeal carcinomas and are considered an organ-sparing alternative to total laryngectomy and chemo-radiotherapy. The main characteristics of SCLs are the preservation of the main laryngeal functions as respiration, phonation and swallowing, without a permanent tracheostomy. Supracricoid laryngectomies have been questioned for many years as regarding functional and oncological outcomes and are currently accepted, although patient selection criteria and functional results are still debated. The mainstream of this surgery is the maintenance of one functioning cricoarytenoid unit to allow restoring of swallowing and phonation. Thus, post-operative rehabilitation protocol is required to archive functional outcomes and avoid functional failure of this surgery; an early rehabilitation protocol improves functional results, in particular regarding swallowing. Swallowing and voice functional outcomes differ among several centres and are often related to the post-operative management, although SCLs provide commonly good swallowing and respiratory outcomes. To date, SCLs are proven surgical procedures for the treatment of laryngeal cancer and should be a valuable option to total laryngectomy and chemo-radiotherapy for selected advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In this clinical review, we discuss the clinical outcomes in patients treated with SCLs with particular attention to rehabilitation protocol and functional outcomes for swallowing and voice rehabilitation
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