Club Drugs and Psychiatric Outcomes: A Descriptive Case Series from Spain.

Background: illegal drugs significantly contribute to global health issues, with health complications often occurring not only in regular users with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) but also in first-time and occasional users.

Methods: this study examines five clinical cases from a public hospital in Ibiza, Spain, where patients presented with acute psychiatric symptoms due to recreational drug use.

Results: Contrary to previous studies on SUDs, our patients typically had higher education levels and stable employment.

New trends of drug abuse in custodial settings: A systematic review on the misuse of over-the-counter drugs, prescription-only-medications, and new psychoactive substances.

The article presents a systematic literature review on the use and the psychiatric implications of over-the-counter drugs (OTC), prescription-only-medications (POM), and new psychoactive substances (NPS) within custodial settings. The searches wer carried out on 2 November 2022 on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in line with PRISMA guidelines. A total of 538 records were identified, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Brexpiprazole in Subjects with Schizophrenia Spectrum Illness and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorder: A Prospective, Multicentric, Real-World Study.

Background: Dual disorders (DDs) involve the coexistence of a substance use disorder (SUD) with another mental illness, often from the psychotic and affective categories. They are quite common in clinical practice and present significant challenges for both diagnosis and treatment. This study explores the effectiveness of brexpiprazole, a third-generation antipsychotic, in an Italian sample of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and a comorbid SUD.

The rapid antidepressant effectiveness of repeated dose of intravenous ketamine and intranasal esketamine: A post-hoc analysis of pooled real-world data.

Introduction: Intravenous ketamine (KET-IV) and intranasal esketamine (ESK-NS) are effective in the acute treatment of Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD). Studies comparing KET-IV and ESK-NS concerning their action, safety, and tolerability are currently lacking.

Materials And Methods: We combined patients' data from two unipolar TRD cohorts that received KET-IV (n = 171) at the Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence in Toronto, Canada, or ESK-NS (n = 140) at several TRD clinics in Italy.

Efficacy of Psychosocial and Psychological Interventions in Addition to Drug Therapy to Improve Global Functioning of Inpatients with Schizophrenia Spectrum and Mood Disorders: A Real-World Observational Study.

Introduction And Aim: Psychotic and mood disorders are associated with significant functional impairment, premature mortality, physical morbidity, and great social and economic burden. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial, psychological, and rehabilitative interventions implemented in an Italian psychiatric inpatient facility, with a focus on patients with schizophrenia spectrum versus those with mood disorders.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in the psychiatric hospital Villa Maria Pia in Rome, Italy, during 2022.

An Update on Psychoactive Substances: Pharmacology and Toxicology Issues.

This Special Issue, titled "Psychoactive Substances: Pharmacology and Toxicology", aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the pharmacology, clinical information, and toxicology of psychotropics, as well as the effects associated with their intake [...

To bridge or not to bridge: Moral Judgement in Cocaine Use Disorders, a case-control study on human morality.

Background: In the "Dual-Process theory", morality is characterized by the interaction between an automatic-emotional process, mediated by the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) and linked to personal-deontological decisions, and a rational-conscious one, mediated by the Dorso-Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and linked to impersonal-utilitarian decisions. These areas are altered by chronic use of cocaine, with a possible impact on moral decision-making.

Objective: To evaluate the difference between a group of Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) patients and a control group in moral decision-making.

Predicting outcome with Intranasal Esketamine treatment: A machine-learning, three-month study in Treatment-Resistant Depression (ESK-LEARNING).

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) represents a severe clinical condition with high social and economic costs. Esketamine Nasal Spray (ESK-NS) has recently been approved for TRD by EMA and FDA, but data about predictors of response are still lacking. Thus, a tool that can predict the individual patients' probability of response to ESK-NS is needed.

Is There a Risk for Semaglutide Misuse? Focus on the Food and Drug Administration's FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) Pharmacovigilance Dataset.

Recent media reports commented about a possible issue of the misuse of antidiabetics related to molecules promoted as a weight-loss treatment in non-obese people. We evaluated here available pharmacovigilance misuse/abuse signals related to , a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue, in comparison to other GLP-1 receptor agonists (, , , , , and ) and the - combination. To acheieve that aim, we analyzed the Food and Drug Administration's FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) dataset, performing a descriptive analysis of adverse event reports (AERs) and calculating related pharmacovigilance measures, including the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and the proportional reporting ratio (PRR).

Investigating the Effectiveness and Tolerability of Intranasal Esketamine Among Older Adults With Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD): A Post-hoc Analysis from the REAL-ESK Study Group.

Introduction: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a serious and debilitating psychiatric disorder that frequently affects older patients. Esketamine nasal spray (ESK-NS) has recently been approved as a treatment for TRD, with multiple studies establishing its efficacy and tolerability. However, the real-world effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of this treatment in older adults is still unclear.

High-Risk Gaming Is Associated with Frequent Substance Use: An Exploratory Survey among Young Adults.

Introduction: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is an emerging condition within the field of behavioural addictions. IGD has been demonstrated to be highly comorbid with many other mental health disorders. Among these, substance use has been associated with IGD, and there are underlying similarities between behavioural addictions and substance use disorders.

Treating bipolar depression with esketamine: Safety and effectiveness data from a naturalistic multicentric study on esketamine in bipolar versus unipolar treatment-resistant depression.

Background: Bipolar depression accounts for most of the disease duration in type I and type II bipolar disorder (BD), with few treatment options, often poorly tolerated. Many individuals do not respond to first-line therapeutic options, resulting in treatment-resistant bipolar depression (B-TRD). Esketamine, the S-enantiomer of ketamine, has recently been approved for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but no data are available on its use in B-TRD.

Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels' Decline: A Narrative Review.

Recreational drug intake may be associated with a range of medical untoward consequences, including male infertility. However, as the related evidence is still limited, the main outcome of this review is to provide a better understanding of the existence of any association between recreational drug misuse and male fertility levels' decline. Whilst searching the MEDLINE/PubMed, a comprehensive overview of the literature regarding male infertility and substances of abuse (e.

Evaluating Craving in Alcohol Use Disorder: Psychometric Characteristics of the Craving Typology Questionnaire-15 (CTQ-15).

Aims: The Craving Typology Questionnaire (CTQ) is a psychometric instrument used to assess alcohol craving in normal controls and subjects with alcohol use disorder (AUD). It allows a dimensional self-rating assessment of craving according to a three-pathway psychobiological model of craving distinguishing craving into a reward, relief and obsessive component. The aim of the present study is to evaluate psychometric properties of the CTQ-15, a revised version of CTQ with 15 items.