Exploring Predictors of Treatment Response to GLP-1 Receptor Agonists for Smoking Cessation.

Introduction: Understanding predictors of smoking cessation medication efficacy facilitates the ability to enhance treatment effectiveness. In our pilot trial, exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, adjunct to nicotine patch improved smoking abstinence compared to nicotine patch alone. This secondary analysis explores potential baseline characteristics associated with differential treatment response to exenatide.

Neuroinflammation in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases: Role of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress.

A shared hallmark of age-related neurodegenerative diseases is the chronic activation of innate immune cells, which actively contributes to the neurodegenerative process. In Alzheimer's disease, this inflammatory milieu exacerbates both amyloid and tau pathology. A similar abnormal inflammatory response has been reported in Parkinson's disease, with elevated levels of cytokines and other inflammatory intermediates derived from activated glial cells, which promote the progressive loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons.

Snow sports-specific extension of the IOC consensus statement: methods for recording and reporting epidemiological data on injury and illness in sports.

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) consensus statement on 'methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport' recommended standardising methods to advance data collection and reporting consistency. However, additional aspects need to be considered when these methods are applied to specific sports settings. Therefore, we have developed a snow sports-specific extension of the IOC statement to promote the harmonisation of injury and illness registration methods among athletes of all levels and categories in the different disciplines governed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), which is also applicable to other related snow sports such as biathlon, ski mountaineering, and to some extent, para snow sports.

Undervaluing nondrug rewards or overvaluing cocaine? Cocaine demand relates to cocaine use severity more strongly than anhedonia in individuals with cocaine use disorder.

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a major public health issue, and greater cocaine use severity has been associated with worse treatment retention and outcomes. Therefore, greater understanding of processes that influence cocaine use is needed. Both anhedonia (i.

Interest in and Willingness to Use PrEP: A Cross-Sectional Study of Individuals with Problematic Substance Use Residing in a High HIV Prevalence Jurisdiction.

Although it is an effective HIV prevention method, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is underutilized in the Southern US. Many people who use drugs (PWUD) have increased susceptibility to HIV which could be lessened by using PrEP. Potential barriers to PrEP use include lack of awareness of PrEP, low knowledge about HIV prevention, low self-efficacy for HIV prevention, inaccurate risk perceptions, and anticipated stigma.

Opioid Risk Tool, in-hospital opioid exposure, and opioid demand predict pain outcomes following traumatic injury.

Prescribed opioids are a mainstay pain treatment after traumatic injury, but a subgroup of patients may be at risk for continued opioid use. We evaluated the predictive utility of a traditional screening tool, the Opioid Risk Tool (ORT), and two other measures: average in-hospital milligram morphine equivalents (MME) per day and an assessment of opioid demand in predicting pain outcomes. Assessments of pain-related outcomes (pain intensity, interference, injury-related stress, and need for additional pain treatment) were administered at 2 weeks and 12 months post-discharge in a sample of 34 patients hospitalized for traumatic injury.

A meta-analysis of electrophysiological biomarkers of reward and error monitoring in substance misuse.

Substance use disorders are characterized by marked changes in reward and error processing. The primary objective of this meta-analysis was to estimate effect sizes for the reward positivity (RewP) and error-related negativity (ERN), two event-related potential indicators of outcome monitoring, in substance users compared to controls. The secondary objective was to test for moderation by demographic, substance type, and EEG experiment parameters.

Safety of multiple intravenous infusions of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells for hospitalized cases of COVID-19: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess the safety of allogeneic, Hope Biosciences Adipose Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (HB-adMSCs) for the treatment of hospitalized subjects with COVID-19.

Methods:  = 48 patients were randomly assigned to HB-adMSC (100 MM) or placebo group. Four intravenous infusions of HB-adMSCs or saline were administered at days 0, 3, 7, 10.

An opioid-minimizing multimodal pain regimen reduces opioid exposure and pain in trauma-injured patients at high risk for opioid misuse: Secondary analysis from the mast trial.

Background: Screening to identify patients at risk for opioid misuse after trauma is recommended but not commonly used to guide perioperative opioid management interventions. The Multimodal Analgesic Strategies for Trauma trial demonstrated that an opioid-minimizing multimodal pain regimen reduced opioid exposure in a heterogeneous trauma patient population. Here, we assess the efficacy of the Multimodal Analgesic Strategies for Trauma multimodal pain regimen in a critical patient subgroup who screened at high risk for opioid misuse.

Experimental demonstration of a new near-infrared spectroscopy technique based on optical dual-comb: DC-NIRS.

We present a novel near-infrared spectroscopy technique based on Dual-Comb optical interrogation (DC-NIRS) applied to dispersive media. The technique recovers the frequency response of the medium under investigation by sampling its spectral response in amplitude and phase. The DC-NIRS reference and sample signals are generated using electro-optic modulation which offers a cost-effective, integrable solution while providing high adaptability to the interrogated medium.

Deficits in consummatory reward relate to severity of cocaine use.

Background And Aims: Identifying modifiable neuropsychological factors associated with more severe CUD could improve CUD treatment. Impairments in processing of non-drug rewards may be one such factor. This study assessed the relationship between reward functioning and cocaine use severity using multi-modal measures of three distinct reward functions: consummatory reward (pleasure or "liking"); motivational reward ("wanting") and reward learning.

Types of Traumatic Experiences in Drug Overdose-Related Deaths: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis.

Aim: Drug overdose related-deaths in the US are increasing, with over 100,000 deaths occurring in 2020, an increase of 30% from the previous year and the highest number recorded in a single year. It is widely known that experiences of trauma and substance use very often co-occur, but little is known about the role of trauma in the context of drug overdose-related deaths. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify drug overdose-related deaths based on type of traumatic experiences and individual, social, and substance use characteristics.

The Association between Potentially Traumatic Events and Cocaine, Cannabis, and Alcohol Use Differs by Race.

: Although exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) for Black and Latinx may be comparable or lower than their White counterparts, type of trauma experiences differ such as more interpersonal trauma and violence reported by Black people, who also experience higher rates of PTSD. In this retrospective study, we examined the association between use of particular substances and various PTEs and the race/ethnicity-group differences for this association. : One-hundred seventy-nine participants recruited from an outpatient substance use disorder program from February 2018 to October 2020 completed measures on lifetime trauma history and current/past cocaine, cannabis, and alcohol misuse.

Lithium levels and lifestyle in patients with bipolar disorder: a new tool for self-management.

Background: Patients should get actively involved in the management of their illness. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of lifestyle factors, including sleep, diet, and physical activity, on lithium levels in patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods: A multicenter study was performed.

Inflammasome activation under high cholesterol load triggers a protective microglial phenotype while promoting neuronal pyroptosis.

Background: Persistent inflammatory response in the brain can lead to tissue damage and neurodegeneration. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is an aberrant activation of inflammasomes, molecular platforms that drive inflammation through caspase-1-mediated proteolytic cleavage of proinflammatory cytokines and gasdermin D (GSDMD), the executor of pyroptosis. However, the mechanisms underlying the sustained activation of inflammasomes in AD are largely unknown.

Assessing cocaine motivational value: Comparison of brain reactivity bias toward cocaine cues and cocaine demand.

The behavioral economic measure drug demand and the neural measure late positive potential (LPP) are two measures of motivational value that have been associated with drug relapse risk and treatment outcomes. Despite having overlapping themes, no studies have directly compared drug demand and LPP. Participants ( = 59) included treatment-seeking individuals with cocaine use disorder that had completed both a baseline cocaine demand task and an electroencephalogram (EEG) picture-viewing task of drug-related and pleasant picture cues.

Cell-free mitochondrial DNA deletions in idiopathic, but not LRRK2, Parkinson's disease.

Mitochondrial dysfunction happens in both idiopathic (iPD) and LRRK2-related Parkinson's disease (LRRK2-PD). Nonetheless, previous studies suggested that a different type of mitochondrial pathology underlies the neurodegeneration in these two disorders. To further explore this hypothesis, we developed a novel multiplex digital PCR assay that allows the absolute quantification of cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) copy number and deletion ratio directly in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by simultaneously measuring two opposed regions of the mtDNA circular molecule, one of them in the commonly deleted major arc.

Late positive potential as a candidate biomarker of motivational relevance in substance use: Evidence from a meta-analysis.

The objective of the current meta-analysis was to assess the effect size of the Late Positive Potential (LPP) to drug and emotional cues in substance users compared to controls. The secondary objective was to test for moderation by: age, gender, years of use, use status, and substance type. Search was performed in August 2021 using PubMed.

Alterations in brain synaptic proteins and mRNAs in mood disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of postmortem brain studies.

The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying bipolar (BD) and major depressive disorders (MDD) are multifactorial but likely involve synaptic dysfunction and dysregulation. There are multiple synaptic proteins but three synaptic proteins, namely SNAP-25, PSD-95, and synaptophysin, have been widely studied for their role in synaptic function in human brain postmortem studies in BD and MDD. These studies have yielded contradictory results, possibly due to the small sample size and sourcing material from different cortical regions of the brain.

Prescription fill patterns for benzodiazepine and opioid drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Background: COVID-19 and resulting mitigation measures in the United States (US) brought about limited access to medical care that has been linked to increases in mental health problems, excessive substance use, and drug overdoses. The increase in co-prescription of benzodiazepines and opioids may indicate population-level changes in health behaviors that can be exacerbated by limited access, hence necessitating the tracking of these drugs during COVID-19. We evaluated the impact of the declaration of COVID-19 as a US national emergency on prescription patterns in 2020.

Citalopram for treatment of cocaine use disorder: A Bayesian drop-the-loser randomized clinical trial.

Background: Medication development research for cocaine use disorder (CUD) has been a longstanding goal in addiction research, but has not resulted in an FDA-approved treatment. Rising cocaine use rates underscore the need for efficient adaptive designs. This study compared differences between two doses of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram (versus placebo) on duration of cocaine abstinence and applied adaptive decision rules to select the 'best efficacy' dose.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus psychoeducational intervention in bipolar outpatients: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Few controlled trials have assessed the impact of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on symptoms and functioning in bipolar disorder (BD). This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of MBCT adjunctive group treatment.

Material And Methods: Randomized, prospective, multicenter, single-blinded trial that included BP-outpatients with subthreshold depressive symptoms.

Decreased cocaine demand following contingency management treatment.

A hypothetical cocaine purchasing task (CocPT) was used to assess changes in cocaine demand in the context of contingency management (CM) treatment for cocaine use disorder (CUD). Participants (N = 89) were treatment-seeking individuals with CUD receiving 4 weeks of abstinence-based, high-magnitude CM. Treatment response (vs.

Upregulation of brain cholesterol levels inhibits mitophagy in Alzheimer disease.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is behind several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD). Accumulation of damaged mitochondria is already observed at the early stages of AD and has been linked to impaired mitophagy, but the mechanisms underlying this alteration are still not fully known. In our recent study, we show that intracellular cholesterol enrichment can downregulate amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced mitophagy.

Experience Affects EEG Event-Related Synchronization in Dancers and Non-dancers While Listening to Preferred Music.

EEGs were analyzed to investigate the effect of experiences in listening to preferred music in dancers and non-dancers. Participants passively listened to instrumental music of their preferred genre for 2 min (Argentine tango for dancers, classical, or jazz for non-dancers), alternate genres, and silence. Both groups showed increased activity for their preferred music compared to non-preferred music in the gamma, beta, and alpha frequency bands.