Publications by authors named "Bloch V"

Article Synopsis
  • The increasing legalization of cannabis worldwide has led to a growing need for methods to accurately identify and quantify cannabis consumption, especially through non-invasive means.
  • Oral fluid, as an alternative to traditional blood and urine tests, offers advantages such as easier self-sampling and reduced risk of tampering, although it typically requires larger volumes to test effectively.
  • The study presents a new method that allows for the quantification of seven cannabinoids from just 20 µL of oral fluid using a specialized sampling device and advanced chemical techniques, achieving precise detection limits suitable for legal and clinical contexts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the changes in gray matter (GM) volume in the insula, a brain region linked to addiction, comparing severe alcohol use disorder (sAUD) and severe cocaine use disorder (sCUD).
  • Researchers analyzed 12 subregions of the insula using a sample of 50 sAUD patients, 61 sCUD patients, and 36 healthy controls, finding overall lower insula volume in both disorders, particularly in the anterior long gyrus (ALG).
  • The results highlight both shared and distinct patterns of insula volume deficits between sAUD and sCUD, suggesting that while the insula is important in substance use disorders, each disorder may have unique characteristics that could inform treatment approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Current treatment options for psychostimulant use disorder (PUD) are lacking, but research suggests that cholinergic mechanisms could play a role in potential treatments.
  • The systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of various cholinergic agents in controlled clinical trials for individuals with PUD, focusing on studies involving cocaine and amphetamines.
  • Results indicate that most outpatient trials were inconclusive, with only a couple showing some promise in reducing cocaine use, while laboratory trials did not demonstrate significant effects on cravings or treatment efficacy.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Parasomnias and sleep-related movement disorders (SRMD) are sleep disorders that can be triggered by certain medications, and this study aimed to review the literature on this association from January 2020 to June 2023.
  • Over 900 records were examined, identifying 73 drugs linked to common drug-induced parasomnias like nightmares and sleepwalking, as well as SRMDs such as restless legs syndrome and bruxism.
  • The study discusses potential mechanisms behind these disorders related to various neurotransmitters, including the impact of antipsychotics, opioids, and medications affecting serotonin, noradrenergic, and dopamine pathways, highlighting gaps in drug labeling for these conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) is an important health issue, associated with structural brain abnormalities. However, the impact of the route of administration and their predictive value for relapse remain unknown.

Methods: We conducted an anatomical MRI study in 55 CUD patients (26 CUD-Crack and 29 CUD-Hydro) entering inpatient detoxification, and 38 matched healthy controls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Cocaine is a highly addictive substance, and with no approved medication for cocaine use disorder (CUD), leading to a heavy burden. Despite validated psychosocial treatments, relapse rates after detoxification are very high in CUD. Few consistent factors can predict abstinence after detoxification.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Monitoring of lamotrigine levels is recommended in epilepsy. However, in bipolar disorders (BD), no study has described the therapeutic range in daily practice and factors being associated to it. We used retrospective data of individuals with BD, treated with lamotrigine, and included in the FondaMental Advanced Centers of Expertise for Bipolar Disorders cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Repeated exposure to substances of abuse results in an increase in some behavioral responses. This phenomenon, called behavioral sensitization (BS), is well described in preclinical models. However, its existence in humans is still a matter of debate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Therapeutic drug monitoring for lamotrigine is poorly documented in bipolar and depressive disorders. In order to evaluate its use among French psychiatrists, we explored prescribing habits, therapeutic monitoring and dosage adjustment of lamotrigine through a flash survey.

Methods: A survey was broadcasted by the network of Expert Centers for Bipolar Disorder and Resistant Depression and by the Collegial of Psychiatry of the Assistance publique des Hôpitaux de Paris.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters are key determinants of drug pharmacokinetics and response. The cocktail-based cytochrome P450 (CYP) and drug transporter phenotyping approach consists in the administration of multiple CYP or transporter-specific probe drugs to determine their activities simultaneously. Several drug cocktails have been developed over the past two decades in order to assess CYP450 activity in human subjects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Due to technological developments, wearable sensors for monitoring the behavior of farm animals have become cheaper, have a longer lifespan and are more accessible for small farms and researchers. In addition, advancements in deep machine learning methods provide new opportunities for behavior recognition. However, the combination of the new electronics and algorithms are rarely used in PLF, and their possibilities and limitations are not well-studied.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * This study aimed to develop a screening tool (ECAB) for identifying benzodiazepine use disorder in patients undergoing alcohol detoxification, where 15% of participants were found to have comorbid benzodiazepine use disorder.
  • * Factors such as the type of prescriber and the presence of psychiatric disorders were linked to benzodiazepine use risks, highlighting that effective screening can aid in better management of these patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Altered cytochromes P450 enzymes (CYP) and P-glycoprotein transporter (P-gp) activity may explain variabilities in drug response. In this study, we analyzed four years of phenotypic assessments of CYP/P-gp activities to optimize pharmacotherapy in psychiatry. A low-dose probe cocktail was administered to evaluate CYP1A2, 2B6, 2D6, 2C9, 2C19, 3A4, and P-gp activities using the probe/metabolite concentration ratio in blood or the AUC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Stimulant use is an important health issue. In the US in 2018, 2.8% of males and 1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In many countries, valproate is indicated for epilepsy only, whereas its derivative divalproex (DVP) and valpromide (VPM) are indicated for bipolar disorders only. DVP is composed of sodium valproate and valproic acid (VA) in a 1:1 molar ratio and VPM is a prodrug completely hydrolyzed in the gastric tract to VA. Whatever the drug, the absorbed and active substance is the valproate ion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this translational study, we investigated the plasma tau protein, neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), which are established biomarkers of neurological injury, as predictive biomarkers of alcohol withdrawal-associated brain toxicity. In the clinical study, patients with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) on D1 of hospitalization for alcohol cessation (AC) (N = 36) were compared to severe AUD patients with at least 3 months of abstinence (N = 16). Overall, patients were 40 men (76.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Alcohol use is a leading cause of mortality, brain morbidity, neurological complications and minor to major neurocognitive disorders. Alcohol-related neurocognitive disorders are consecutive to the direct effect of chronic and excessive alcohol use, but not only. Indeed, patients with severe alcohol use disorders (AUD) associated with pharmacological dependence suffer from repetitive events of alcohol withdrawal (AW).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Cocaine use disorder is a chronic disease with severe consequences and a high relapse rate. There is a critical need to explore the factors influencing relapse in order to achieve more efficient treatment outcomes. Furthermore, there is a great need for easy-to-measure, repeatable, and valid biomarkers that can predict treatment response or relapse.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Cocaine-induced transient hallucinations (CIH) are a frequent complication following cocaine intake that is associated with addiction severity.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-two non-psychotic and Caucasian lifetime cocaine users were included in a French multicentric study. Clinical variables and dopamine pathway genotype data were extracted and tested with CIH scores using a zero-inflated binomial model, which allows for the exploration of factors associated with occurrence and severity separately.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • After a year of implementing a medication reconciliation approach in follow-up and rehabilitation care, an evaluation was conducted to identify treatment changes among patients.
  • Out of 302 patients studied, 82.2% had voluntary treatment changes (TCs) documented at discharge, with every patient having at least one TC.
  • The evaluation raises questions about the potential consequences of these numerous TCs and explores strategies to mitigate their effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Malnutrition has been reported in alcohol use disorder patients as having a possible influence on cognitive function. The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence of ascorbic acid (AA) deficiency in inpatients admitted for alcohol detoxification and the associated factors, including cognitive impairment in the early period of abstinence. A retrospective chart review was conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • During cocaine withdrawal, many patients experience mild depressive symptoms that can lead to relapse, which may be tied to changes in dopamine activity.
  • A study compared patients with (RDS+) and without (RDS-) these symptoms, focusing on dopaminergic activity through clinical markers.
  • Findings showed that a significant majority (77%) of patients reported depressive symptoms, with those experiencing them having higher levels of psychotic symptoms and more severe cocaine use disorder characterized by both hyperdopaminergic and hypodopaminergic markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF