Spectroscopic and electrochemical studies of cocaine-opioid interactions.

The drugs of abuse cocaine (C), heroin (H), and morphine (M) have been studied to enable understanding of the occurrence of cocaine-opioid interactions at a molecular level. Electrochemical, Raman, and NMR studies of the free drugs and their mixtures were used to study drug-drug interactions. The results were analyzed using data obtained from quantum-mechanical calculations.

Expression of NR1/NR2B N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors enhances heroin toxicity in HEK293 cells.

Repeated use of drugs of abuse, namely opiates, has been shown to affect glutamate-releasing neurons. Moreover, blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDAR) prevents cell death by apoptosis induced by morphine, a heroin metabolite. Thus, in this article we investigated the involvement of different NMDAR subunits in heroin cytotoxicity.

Influence of the sample preparation method on the serotonin determination in plasma and platelets.

Plasma or platelet serotonin concentration is commonly used to provide information about the serotonergic activity in various psychiatric or neurological diseases. Some difficulties have been described in the measurement of serotonin (5-HT) levels in plasma or platelets. We describe an isocratic liquid-chromatographic assay with amperometric detection for determination of 5-HT in the platelet pellet and in platelet-rich and platelet-poor plasma (PRP and PPP) in sample sizes of 100 microL of plasma.