Qualitative Assessment of Barriers to Buprenorphine Access: The Role of Pharmacies.

Background: Patients continue to face challenges accessing medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) despite attempts to loosen prescribing restrictions and streamline service provision. Past research has mainly focused on potential barriers surrounding prescribing practices for buprenorphine, but has had limited investigation into the role of pharmacies.

Objective: This study investigates the role of both pharmacists and pharmacies in creating or circumventing barriers to accessing buprenorphine for individuals in Georgia seeking medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

Demographic and socioeconomic correlates to buprenorphine access in pharmacies.

Background: Research has focused on buprenorphine prescribing with limited attention to the role of pharmacy access to buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.

Objective: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic correlates to buprenorphine access in Georgia pharmacies.

Methods: A 5-question (12 potential subqueries) telephone administered survey was used to investigate access and stocking patterns of specific dosages and formulations of buprenorphine in Georgia pharmacies (n = 119).

Quality of care for Black and Latina women living with HIV in the U.S.: a qualitative study.

Background: Ending the HIV epidemic requires that women living with HIV (WLWH) have access to structurally competent HIV-related and other health care. WLWH may not regularly engage in care due to inadequate quality; however, women's perspectives on the quality of care they receive are understudied.

Methods: We conducted 12 focus groups and three in-depth interviews with Black (90%) and Latina (11%) WLWH enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study in Atlanta, GA, Birmingham, AL, Brooklyn, NY, Chapel Hill, NC, Chicago, IL, and Jackson, MS from November 2017 to May 2018 (n = 92).

Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Altered Intestinal Permeability Induced by Combat Training Are Associated with Distinct Metabotypic Changes.

Physical and psychological stress have been shown to modulate multiple aspects of gastrointestinal (GI) physiology, but its molecular basis remains elusive. We therefore characterized the stress-induced metabolic phenotype (metabotype) in soldiers during high-intensity combat training and correlated the metabotype with changes in GI symptoms and permeability. In a prospective, longitudinal study, urinary metabotyping was conducted on 38 male healthy soldiers during combat training and a rest period using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Combat-training stress in soldiers increases S100B, a marker of increased blood-brain-barrier permeability, and induces immune activation.

Background: Experimental data suggest stress-related cognitive dysfunction may be associated with increased blood-brain-barrier (BBB) permeability secondary to immune activation.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between prolonged and intense physical and psychological combat-training stress, immune activation and blood-brain-barrier permeability in 37 healthy male army medical rapid response troops.

Results: Soldiers during intense combat training showed greater self-reported stress, anxiety and depression levels than at rest, as assessed by specific questionnaires.