In addition to acting on traditionally recognized receptors or transporters on the plasma membrane, several drugs of abuse, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, nicotine, opioid, cocaine, ketamine, and cannabinoid, have been shown to exert their effects by acting on additional molecular targets either on the plasma membrane or inside a cell. These targets are usually nascent receptors or proteins that can cause downstream signaling or molecular events, leading to altered physiological outcomes favoring addictive processes. However, those "non-canonical" targets of drugs of abuse, in general, have not been widely recognized in drug abuse research. This perspective diverts attention to those underrecognized targets, in the hope of promoting a more complete understanding of the action of drugs of abuse.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00761 | DOI Listing |
HCA Healthc J Med
December 2024
HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital, Orange Park, FL.
Introduction: As illicit drug manufacturers find new ways to market their products and increase their profit margins, multiple contaminants have found their way into the illicit drug supply. The newest addition, xylazine, also known as "tranq," has spread through the city of Philadelphia and has recently been gaining ground across the United States, including in the state of Florida.
Case Presentation: This case describes a 37-year-old male with a significant past psychiatric history of severe polysubstance intravenous (IV) use, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Objective: Are individuals who use hallucinogens self-medicating their mental illness and are they more likely to abuse other illegal substances?
Design Setting Participants: Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) database was queried for correlations with hallucinogen use. Using age group as a control variable, different variables were run through a crosstab in order to find significant data pointing to the implications of hallucinogen use.
Results: The data from the crosstab analysis showed three key findings about hallucinogen use: Those with mental illness or substance abuse issues were substantially more likely to use hallucinogens, the hallucinogen use greatly increased with the pandemic along with further mental health issues, and those who used hallucinogens were more significantly likely to abuse other illegal substances, primarily in a younger population.
Addiction
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Background And Aim: Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is strongly influenced by genetic factors; however the mechanisms underpinning this association are not well understood. This study investigated whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) based on a genome-wide association study for CUD in adults predicts cannabis use in adolescents and whether the association can be explained by inter-individual variation in structural properties of brain white matter or risk-taking behaviors.
Design And Setting: Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses using data from the IMAGEN cohort, a European longitudinal study integrating genetic, neuroimaging and behavioral measures.
United States and European Union laws demand separate clinical studies in children as a condition for drugs' marketing approval. Justified by carefully framed pseudo-scientific wordings, more so the European Medicines Agency than the United States Food and Drug Administration, "Pediatric Drug Development" is probably the largest abuse in medical research in history. Preterm newborns are immature and vulnerable, but they grow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Voice
January 2025
Department of Audio, Video, and Electronic Forensics, Academy of Forensic Science, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Key Laboratory of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai, China.
Drug abuse can cause severe damage to the human speech organs. The vocal folds are one of the important speech organs that produce voice through vibration when airflow passes through. Previous studies have reported the negative effects of drugs on speech organs, including the vocal folds, but there is still limited research on relevant field.
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