Low Dose Ketamine Infusion for Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Chronic Pain: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial.

Objective: To date, treatment options (i.e. psychotherapy, antidepressant medications) for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are relatively few, and considering their limited efficacy, novel therapies have gained interest among researchers and treatment providers alike.

Tobacco Smoking and Brain Endogenous Opioid Release: More Than Nicotine Alone.

Introduction: The effects of smoking denicotinized (denic) and average nicotine (avnic) tobacco cigarettes were studied on brain mu opioid receptor binding by positron emission tomography with 11C carfentanil. The results indicated the importance of physiological and psychological effects induced by denic smoking.

Methods: Regional mu opioid binding potential (nondisplaceable binding potential, BPND) was measured in 20 adult male overnight abstinent chronic tobacco smokers.

Genetic Variation of the Mu Opioid Receptor (OPRM1) and Dopamine D2 Receptor (DRD2) is Related to Smoking Differences in Patients with Schizophrenia but not Bipolar Disorder.

It is not known why mentally ill persons smoke excessively. Inasmuch as endogenous opioid and dopaminergic systems are involved in smoking reinforcement, it is important to study mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) A118G (rs1799971), dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) Taq1A (rs1800497) genotypes, and sex differences among patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Smokers and nonsmokers with schizophrenia (n=177) and bipolar disorder (n=113) were recruited and genotyped.

Cortisol in schizophrenia: No association with tobacco smoking, clinical symptoms or antipsychotic medication.

Cigarette smoking is associated with higher cortisol levels in healthy subjects. In schizophrenia this relationship is not clear. There are divergent results on the association between cortisol with smoking, clinical symptoms and medication in schizophrenia.

Nicotine-specific and non-specific effects of cigarette smoking on endogenous opioid mechanisms.

This study investigates differences in μ-opioid receptor mediated neurotransmission in healthy controls and overnight-abstinent smokers, and potential effects of the OPRM1 A118G genotype. It also examines the effects of smoking denicotinized (DN) and average nicotine (N) cigarettes on the μ-opioid system. Positron emission tomography with (11)C-carfentanil was used to determine regional brain μ-opioid receptor (MOR) availability (non-displaceable binding potential, BPND) in a sample of 19 male smokers and 22 nonsmoking control subjects.

Regional brain [(11)C]carfentanil binding following tobacco smoking.

Objective: To determine if overnight tobacco abstinent carriers of the AG or GG (*G) vs. the AA variant of the human mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) differ in [(11)C]carfentanil binding after tobacco smoking.

Methods: Twenty healthy American male smokers who abstained from tobacco overnight were genotyped and completed positron emission tomography (PET) scans with the mu opioid receptor agonist, [(11)C]carfentanil.

Effects of Italian Mediterranean organic diet vs. low-protein diet in nephropathic patients according to MTHFR genotypes.

Background: Several reports associate an Italian-style Mediterranean diet (IMD) with lower risk of cardiovascular disease and morbidity. The present study aimed to explore the effects of an Italian Mediterranean organic diet (IMOD) versus low-protein diet (LPD) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, according to patients' carrier status for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism.

Methods: A total of 40 male patients with CKD and stable renal function (Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative stages 2 and 3) were classified according to MTHFR polymorphism as carrier T(+) or non carrier T(-).

A new predictive equation for evaluating women body fat percentage and obesity-related cardiovascular disease risk.

Background: Obesity represents a global public health problem due to its association with cardiovascular diseases and reduced lifespan. The most widely used classification of obesity is expressed as Body Mass Index (BMI); however, this formula is an imprecise adiposity measurement that ignores several important factors involved. Body Adiposity Index (BAI) was more recently proposed as an indirect evaluation of percentage body fat (PBF).

Body composition phenotype: Italian Mediterranean Diet and C677T MTHFR gene polymorphism interaction.

Objectives: Strategies to improve weight maintenance are focused on considering the genetic makeup and its interaction with dietary intake, with the aim to identify vulnerable individuals that will benefit from a variety of more personalized dietary recommendations. The aim of the study was to examine the impact of the C677T MTHFR gene Polymorphism on body composition changes induced by a balanced hypocaloric Italian Mediterannean diet (IMD).

Subjects And Methods: Participation in the study included a complete screening of anthropometry and body composition by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and a genotyping for the C677T MTHFR polymorphism.

Effects of dark chocolate in a population of normal weight obese women: a pilot study.

Background: Normal weight obese (NWO) syndrome is defined as an excessive body fat associated with a normal body mass index and characterized by a higher risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have demonstrated that dark chocolate (DC) has beneficial effects in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of DC consumption on lipid profile, inflammatory markers, biochemical parameters, and blood pressure, in NWO women.

Subanesthetic doses of ketamine transiently decrease serotonin transporter activity: a PET study in conscious monkeys.

Subanesthetic doses of ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) antagonist, have a rapid antidepressant effect which lasts for up to 2 weeks. However, the neurobiological mechanism regarding this effect remains unclear. In the present study, the effects of subanesthetic doses of ketamine on serotonergic systems in conscious monkey brain were investigated.

Pro-inflammatory cytokine network in peripheral inflammation response to cerebral ischemia.

The key circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and their interaction in peripheral inflammation after acute cerebral ischemia are poorly understood. CD40L, IFN-γ, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17 and TNF-α were determined using multi-ELISA kit in stroke patients within 72 h of an acute ischemic attack. Leukocyte mRNAs were determined using real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCR).

Impact of the -174 G > C IL-6 polymorphism on bioelectrical parameters in obese subjects after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

Background: Recent data demonstrated that the -174 G > C IL-6 polymorphism may account for differences in the therapeutic response to laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) surgery.

Objective: We investigated the impact of -174 G > C IL-6 polymorphism on weight loss, body composition, and fluid distribution changes in obese subjects after LAGB.

Design And Outcome Measures: Twenty obese subjects were selected and studied at baseline and 3 months after LAGB.

Tobacco smoking produces greater striatal dopamine release in G-allele carriers with mu opioid receptor A118G polymorphism.

Objective: To determine if carriers of the allelic expression of the G variant of the human mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism have greater increases in striatal dopamine (DA) release after tobacco smoking.

Methods: Nineteen of 20 genotyped male tobacco smokers, after overnight abstinence, smoked denicotinized (denic) and average nicotine (nic) containing tobacco cigarettes in a PET brain imaging study using [(11)C]raclopride.

Results: The right striatum had more free D(2) receptors than the left striatum pre- and post-tobacco smoking.

Denicotinized versus average nicotine tobacco cigarette smoking differentially releases striatal dopamine.

Introduction: Nicotine has long been recognized as a necessary but insufficient component of tobacco cigarettes to maintain a psychophysiological need to smoke. This study examined venous plasma concentrations effects of nicotine in cigarette smoking after overnight abstinence to release striatal dopamine (DA).

Methods: Twenty-two male smokers smoked either denicotinized (denic) or average nicotine (nic) cigarettes under single blind conditions.

Phencyclidine/schizophrenia: one view toward the past, the other to the future.

The history of the chemical synthesis and animal/human pharmacology of phencyclidine is documented. From its early use as a general anesthetic, chemical model of schizophrenia, and drug of abuse, phencyclidine has had a checkered history. Research with this agent and its chemical derivatives like ketamine have provided a solid foundation for just a beginning to understanding the neuropathology of schizophrenia.

5-Hydroxytryptophan attenuates somatic signs of nicotine withdrawal.

Abrupt nicotine cessation after chronic use disrupts monoaminergic systems and causes withdrawal signs/symptoms. In this study, the precursor of serotonin 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) relieved nicotine withdrawal signs. (-)-Nicotine bitartrate or equimolar sodium tartrate was infused into each rat via a s.

Dopamine D1/5 and D2/3 agonists differentially attenuate somatic signs of nicotine withdrawal in rats.

Abrupt tobacco/nicotine cessation after chronic use causes various withdrawal symptoms/signs. There is evidence that dysfunction of brain dopaminergic system might be responsible for some nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The hypothesis for the present study was that different dopaminergic agonists would relieve different nicotine withdrawal signs.

Muscarinic receptor occupancy and cognitive impairment: a PET study with [11C](+)3-MPB and scopolamine in conscious monkeys.

The muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR) antagonist scopolamine was used to induce transient cognitive impairment in monkeys trained in a delayed matching to sample task. The temporal relationship between the occupancy level of central mAChRs and cognitive impairment was determined. Three conscious monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were subjected to positron emission tomography (PET) scans with the mAChR radioligand N-[(11)C]methyl-3-piperidyl benzilate ([(11)C](+)3-MPB).

L-DOPA attenuates nicotine withdrawal-induced behaviors in rats.

There is some evidence that during nicotine abstinence brain dopamine levels are reduced. The hypothesis for the present study was that the precursor amino acid L-DOPA would relieve nicotine withdrawal-induced behaviors. Separate groups of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used.

Increased in vivo [11C]raclopride binding to brain dopamine receptors in amphetamine-treated rats.

The hypothesis that repeated daily doses of amphetamine increases the number of available dopamine D(2) receptors in vivo in rat striatum, and may enhance the response to subsequent amphetamine challenge doses, was examined. The in vivo binding potentials of [(11)C]raclopride, a D(2) receptor antagonist, were determined in male CD-1 rats under five conditions: (1) drug-naïve with saline challenge, (2) drug naïve with 5mg/kg amphetamine challenge, (3) amphetamine-dosed (five daily repeated s.c.