Long-term outcomes from the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study.

Background: Despite the growing prevalence of prescription opioid dependence, longitudinal studies have not examined long-term treatment response. The current study examined outcomes over 42 months in the Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study (POATS).

Methods: POATS was a multi-site clinical trial lasting up to 9 months, examining different durations of buprenorphine-naloxone plus standard medical management for prescription opioid dependence, with participants randomized to receive or not receive additional opioid drug counseling.

The rights and wrongs of blood-brain barrier permeability studies: a walk through 100 years of history.

Careful examination of relevant literature shows that many of the most cherished concepts of the blood-brain barrier are incorrect. These include an almost mythological belief in its immaturity that is unfortunately often equated with absence or at least leakiness in the embryo and fetus. The original concept of a blood-brain barrier is often attributed to Ehrlich; however, he did not accept that permeability of cerebral vessels was different from other organs.

The multi-site prescription opioid addiction treatment study: 18-month outcomes.

Despite the high prevalence of prescription opioid dependence in the U.S., little is known about the course of this disorder and long-term response to treatment.

Identifying patients with problematic drug use in the emergency department: results of a multisite study.

Study Objective: Drug-related emergency department (ED) visits have steadily increased, with substance users relying heavily on the ED for medical care. The present study aims to identify clinical correlates of problematic drug use that would facilitate identification of ED patients in need of substance use treatment.

Methods: Using previously validated tests, 15,224 adult ED patients across 6 academic institutions were prescreened for drug use as part of a large randomized prospective trial.

Who benefits from additional drug counseling among prescription opioid-dependent patients receiving buprenorphine-naloxone and standard medical management?

Background: In the multi-site Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study (POATS), conducted within the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network, participants randomly assigned to receive individual drug counseling in addition to buprenorphine-naloxone and medical management did not have superior opioid use outcomes. However, research with other substance-dependent populations shows that subgroups of participants may benefit from a treatment although the entire population does not.

Method: We conducted a secondary analysis of POATS data to determine whether a subgroup of participants benefited from drug counseling in addition to buprenorphine-naloxone and medical management, either due to greater problem severity or more exposure to counseling as a result of greater treatment adherence.

Psychometric properties of a Spanish-language version of the Short Inventory of Problems.

Hispanic Americans are substantially underrepresented in clinical and research samples for substance use treatment, with language cited as one of the major barriers to their participation, indicating a need for more validated assessments in Spanish. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Short Inventory of Problems (SIP), used in a multisite, randomized trial conducted for Spanish-speaking substance users. The sample included 405 Spanish-speaking treatment seekers, mostly male (88%) and legally mandated to treatment (71%).

Patient characteristics associated with buprenorphine/naloxone treatment outcome for prescription opioid dependence: Results from a multisite study.

Background: Prescription opioid dependence is a growing problem, but little research exists on its treatment, including patient characteristics that predict treatment outcome.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from a large multisite, randomized clinical trial, the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study (POATS) was undertaken to examine baseline patient characteristics (N=360) associated with success during 12-week buprenorphine/naloxone treatment for prescription opioid dependence. Baseline predictor variables included self-reported demographic and opioid use history information, diagnoses assessed via the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, and historical opioid use and related information from the Pain And Opiate Analgesic Use History.

The Short Inventory of Problems - revised (SIP-R): psychometric properties within a large, diverse sample of substance use disorder treatment seekers.

Assessment of the adverse consequences of substance use serves an important function in both clinical and research settings, yet there is no universally agreed upon measure of consequences relevant to multiple types of substance use disorders. One of the most commonly used measures, the Short Inventory of Problems (SIP), has been adapted and evaluated in several specific populations, but evidence is needed of its reliability and validity across broader samples of persons with substance use disorders. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a revised version of the SIP (SIP-R) in a large combined sample of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment seekers, with participants pooled from two national, multisite, randomized clinical trials.

Vasopressin and oxytocin action in the brain: cellular neurophysiological studies.

During the last two decades it has become apparent that vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT), in addition to playing a role as peptide hormones, also act as neurotransmitters. Morphological studies and electrophysiological recordings have shown a close anatomical correlation between the presence of these receptors and the neuronal responsiveness to VP or OT. These compounds have been found to affect membrane excitability in neurons located in the hippocampus, hypothalamus, lateral septum, brainstem, spinal cord and superior cervical ganglion.

The oxytocin-induced inward current in vagal neurons of the rat is mediated by G protein activation but not by an increase in the intracellular calcium concentration.

The neuropeptide oxytocin can depolarize parasympathetic preganglionic neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve of the rat by generating a sustained inward current, which is sodium-dependent and tetrodotoxin-insensitive. The second messenger activated by oxytocin receptor binding is, however, not yet known. In the present study, we attempted to characterize it by using the whole-cell recording technique and brainstem slices.

Properties of a new radioiodinated antagonist for human vasopressin V2 and V1a receptors.

A vasopressin receptor antagonist, [1-(beta-mercapto-beta,beta-pentamethylenepropionic acid), 2-o-ethyl-D-tyrosine, 4-valine, 9-tyrosylamide] arginine vasopressin (d(CH2)5[o-ethyl-D-Tyr2,Val4,Tyr-NH9(2)]AVP), has been prepared. This antagonist is a potent antiantidiuretic, antivasopressor and antioxytocic peptide with pA2 values of 7.69-7.

Whole-cell NMDA-evoked current in suprachiasmatic neurones of the rat: modulation by extracellular calcium ions.

The action of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) on suprachiasmatic neurones was studied using whole-cell recordings in coronal hypothalamic slices of the rat. The location of the recorded neurones within the suprachiasmatic nucleus was ascertained by intracellular labelling with biocytin, followed by histological processing of the slice. Suprachiasmatic neurones had an input resistance of 780 +/- 20 M omega (mean +/- S.

Vasopressin binding in the cerebral cortex of the Mongolian gerbil is reduced by transient cerebral ischemia.

In Mongolian gerbils, the content of vasopressin in the cerebral cortex, the striatum, and the hypothalamus is increased after induction of acute cerebral ischemia. We used an iodinated vasopressin analogue and light microscopic autoradiography to study the distribution of vasopressin V1 receptors in the brain of adult male gerbils and to evaluate the effects of a transient bilateral cerebral ischemia (6 minutes) on the density of this receptor population. The animals were killed immediately or 10, 30, or 100 hours after transient bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries.