Relationship between craving and plasma leptin concentrations in patients with cocaine addiction.

Background: There is robust evidence indicating an overlap between neurobiological circuitry and pathways that regulate addictions and those that regulate appetite and food intake. Rodent work suggests a role of the appetitive peptide leptin in cocaine-seeking behaviours. The goal of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between plasma leptin concentrations and cocaine craving and use in patients seeking treatment for cocaine dependence.

Neural correlate of Internet use in patients undergoing psychological treatment for Internet addiction.

Background: The new version of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5th) proposed the Internet Gaming Disorder for the diagnosis of Internet addiction (IA) considering the neurobiological evidence of the craving.

Aims: The aim was to test the neural correlate in response to the Internet cue in patients with IA.

Methods: Sixteen males with IA diagnosis (clinical group) and 14 healthy male (control group) were recruited for an experimental visual task composed of Internet images and emotional images.

Is Internet addiction a psychopathological condition distinct from pathological gambling?

Aims: The behavioural-addiction perspective suggests that Internet addiction (IA) and pathological gambling (PG) could share similar characteristics with substance dependence. Despite the similarities between IA and PG, it is not clear whether these disorders share different or similar psychopathological conditions. The aim of the present study was to test whether IA patients presented different psychological symptoms, temperamental traits, coping strategies and relational patterns compared with PG patients.

[To define internet addiction].

Internet addiction is a new behavioral disorder difficult to define, especially when referring to young teenagers who make great use of web-mediated relationships. It's necessary to separate the cases of overt dependency on those in which the abuse of internet seems to have a different value, offering the only way to achieve the possible relationship. Internet is mediating a new way of communicating and thinking, this may favor the onset of clinical phenomena intended to surprise.

[Internet addiction and web-mediated psychopathology].

The development of the Internet and its gradual mass distribution in the last 20 years have marked the beginning of a global revolution in the way of communicating and thinking. In this context, emerged disorders related to a pathological use of the network, up to forms of real addiction (Internet Addiction Disorder), similar to the use of psychotropic substances. The abuse of the Internet can seriously aggravate pre-existing psychopathological traits, which are the basis of addiction, resulting in a continuous process of disconnection from reality.

Internet addiction: hours spent online, behaviors and psychological symptoms.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate psychopathological symptoms, behaviors and hours spent online in patients with internet addiction disorder (IAD) at a new psychiatric service for IAD inside a policlinic.

Method: Eighty-six subjects participated in the study. Thirty-three patients asking for psychiatric consultation regarding their excessive use of the internet were assessed with IAD interview, internet addiction test (IAT), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and a brief sociodemographic survey.

Chronic ketamine use increases serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Rationale: Ketamine is a non-competitive N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist which interferes with the action of excitatory amino acids (EAAs) including glutamate and aspartate. The use of ketamine at subanaesthetic doses has increased because of its psychotomimetic properties. However, long-term ketamine abuse may interfere with memory processes and inhibit the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus, an effect probably mediated by its NMDA antagonist action.

Acetyl-L-carnitine in the management of pain during methadone withdrawal syndrome.

Introduction: This study was designed to determine the short-term effect of acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC) on symptoms of withdrawal in opiate-dependent subjects and animals and, in particular, on pain, given the efficacy of ALC in other typologies of pain. The study consists of 2 branches: a clinical study and a preclinical one, both with a randomized placebo-controlled design.

Methods: Thirty subjects meeting clinical criteria for methadone dependence were consecutively recruited and treated with ALC 2 g/d or placebo for a 3-week detoxification period.

Reduced serum concentrations of nerve growth factor, but not brain-derived neurotrophic factor, in chronic cannabis abusers.

Chronic cannabis use produces effects within the central nervous system (CNS) which include deficits in learning and attention tasks and decreased brain volume. Neurotrophins, in particular nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are proteins that serve as survival factors for CNS neurons. Deficits in the production and utilization of these proteins can lead to CNS dysfunctions including those associated with cannabis abuse.

Cocaine addiction: from habits to stereotypical-repetitive behaviors and punding.

"Punding" is a stereotypical motor behavior characterized by an intense fascination with repetitive handling and examining of objects. Since its first description in amphetamine and cocaine addicts, data on punding has only derived from studies performed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Punding is classifiable as the most severe form of Repetitive Reward-Seeking Behaviours (RRSB) syndromes.

Plasma magnesium level and psychomotor retardation in major depressed patients.

Numerous studies have been performed on magnesium (Mg) metabolism in patients with mood disorders but consistent results have not been obtained. To date, systematic clinical data about Mg levels in major depressed patients according to the psychopathological profile are not available. In the present study we have investigated the relationship between plasma Mg level severity of symptoms and specific psychopathological dimensions (anhedonia and retardation) in 53 mild-to-moderately depressed patients (M/F = 21/32; mean age 46.