Search results for "Cocaine-Related Disorders"
showing 10 items of 34 documents
Pharmacological modulation of protein kinases as a new approach to treat addiction to cocaine and opiates.
2016
Drug addiction shares brain mechanisms and molecular substrates with learning and memory processes, such as the stimulation of glutamate receptors and their downstream signalling pathways. In the present work we provide an up-to-date review of studies that have demonstrated the implication of the main memory-related calcium-dependent protein kinases in opiate and cocaine addiction. The effects of these drugs of abuse in different animal models of drug reward, dependence and addiction are altered by manipulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, particularly extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), the protein kinase C…
Indomethacin blocks the increased conditioned rewarding effects of cocaine induced by repeated social defeat
2018
It is well established that repeated social defeat stress can induce negative long-term consequences such as increased anxiety-like behavior and enhances the reinforcing effect of psychostimulants in rodents. In the current study, we evaluated how the immune system may play a role in these long-term effects of stress. A total of 148 OF1 mice were divided into different experimental groups according to stress condition (exploration or social defeat) and pre-treatment (saline, 5 or 10 mg/kg of the anti-inflammatory indomethacin) before each social defeat or exploration episode. Three weeks after the last social defeat, anxiety was evaluated using an elevated plus maze paradigm. After this tes…
Psychosocial predictors of relapse in cocaine-dependent patients in treatment.
2012
Relapses in cocaine abusers in treatment are an important problem. The majority of patients are incapable of sustaining abstinence over any length of time. To identify the factors associated to relapses risk in the cocaine use can be an optimal choice to improve the treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to analyze relapse-risk factors in cocaine-dependent patients on treatment. Participants were 102 patients who had begun outpatient treatment at a public health center in Spain. Some functional areas and cocaine use are evaluated for a period of six months. A structural equations model was used to identify possible predictive variables. The results show that social-family environme…
Cocaine abuse determination by ion mobility spectrometry using molecular imprinting
2016
A cocaine-based molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) has been produced by bulk polymerization and employed as selective solid-phase extraction support for the determination of cocaine in saliva samples by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The most appropriate conditions for washing and elution of cocaine from MIPs were studied and MIPs were characterized in terms of analyte binding capacity, reusability in water and saliva analysis, imprinting factor and selectivity were established and compared with non-imprinted polymers. The proposed MIP-IMS method provided a LOD of 18μgL-1 and quantitative recoveries for blank saliva samples spiked from 75 to 500μgL-1 cocaine. Oral fluid samples were collec…
Noninvasive double confirmation of cocaine abuse.
2013
A double confirmation procedure, based on the combined application of Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), has been developed for the noninvasive unambiguous identification of cocaine consume. The use of nasal mucus as a biological specimen for cocaine abuse confirmation has been proposed as an alternative to the use of blood and urine due to its noninvasive character and the presence of the parent compound instead of its metabolites. Sampling conditions, interferences caused by cutting agents and other substances, and limits of identification (LOI) and confirmation (LOC) have been deeply evaluated. The procedure combines the high sensitivity of the IMS to identif…
The long and complex road in the search for treatment for mental disorders: An analysis of the process in five groups of patients
2016
Seeking treatment for mental-health problems is a complex process, with different underlying motives in each stage. However, the entire process and these motives have hardly been investigated. This study aims to analyze the different stages of the help-seeking process and their underlying motives in five groups of patients with different mental disorders. In all, 156 patients seeking treatment in outpatient mental health clinics were individually interviewed: 71 had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), 21 had Agoraphobia (AGO), 18 had Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), 20 had Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and 22 had Cocaine Dependence (COC). The AGO and MDD patients delayed significantly less time i…
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Validation Study of the Lifetime Severity Index for Cocaine, Spanish Version (LSI-C-Spanish)
2007
The purpose of the study was to do an exploratory factor analysis and to examine the criterion-related and discriminant validity of the Lifetime Severity Index for Cocaine (LSI-C), Spanish version. A sample of 171 outpatients from 10 drug centers in Spain participated in the study. We conducted the factor analysis with orthogonal rotation and examined correlations between the LSI-C total score and criterion variables as well as the score obtained by a quality of life measure. The factor analysis revealed 2 principal factors that explain 65.8% of the variance. Lower LSI-C scores were associated with taking medication, receiving social help, using cocaine fewer than 30 times during the previo…
Adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol plasma levels directly correlate with childhood neglect and depression measures in addicted patients.
2008
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction has been reported to be involved in vulnerability to alcohol and drug dependence in humans, possibly underlying both addictive behaviour and depression susceptibility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible interactions between childhood adverse experiences, depressive symptoms and HPA axis function in addicted patients, in comparison with healthy control. Eighty-two abstinent heroin or cocaine dependent patients and 44 normal controls, matched for age and sex, completed the symptoms Check List-90 (SCL-90), measuring depressive symptoms, and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire. Blood samples wer…
Motivational factors modulate left frontoparietal network during cognitive control in cocaine addiction
2020
Cocaine addiction is characterized by alterations in motivational and cognitive processes involved in goal-directed behavior. Recent studies have shown that addictive behaviors can be attributed to alterations in the activity of large functional networks. The aim of this study was to investigate how cocaine addiction affected the left frontoparietal network during goal-directed behavior in a stop-signal task (SST) with reward contingencies by correct task performance. Twenty-eight healthy controls (HC) and 30 abstinent cocaine-dependent patients (ACD) performed SST with monetary reward contingencies while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. The results showed that the l…
Addictive Severity in Cocaine Addicts Measured with the EuropASI: Differences between Composite Scores and Severity Ratings
2009
In this study we present the addiction severity profile in a sample of 202 cocaine addicts, using the composite scores for each area of the EuropASI (European version of the ASI), which are compared with the severity ratings obtained through interviewers' subjective assessments. The results showed that the areas of the EuropASI which reflected the greatest severity according to the composite scores were, in the following order: employment/support, family/social situation, use of alcohol and psychiatric state. The results obtained with the composite scores show discrepancies with those obtained from the severity rating. Statistically significant differences were found in the areas of alcohol…