Ethanol reinforcement in nondeprived mice: effects of abstinence and naltrexone.

Background: Operant experiments which indicate that ethanol can serve as a reinforcer to maintain lever responding during limited periods of access have not been conducted on non-food-deprived mice, as they have for rats and monkeys. Furthermore, there are no reports of the effects of chronic ethanol and subsequent abstinence on ethanol reward in mice. Finally, although naltrexone reduces responding for ethanol in food-deprived mice, the effects of the drug on ethanol reward for non-food-deprived mice have not been reported.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled outpatient trial of pergolide for cocaine dependence.

Results of preclinical studies suggest that pergolide, a mixed D(1)/D(2) dopamine receptor agonist, may be useful in treating cocaine dependence. To empirically investigate this possibility, we conducted a 5-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of two doses of pergolide (0.05 and 0.

Assessing craving for alcohol.

Craving for alcohol is common among alcohol-dependent people. Accordingly, measures to assess craving can play important roles in alcohol research as well as in alcoholism treatment. When developing or employing craving-assessment instruments, researchers and clinicians must consider numerous factors, such as the specific characteristics of craving to be evaluated, the instrument's psychometric properties, and the timeframe over which craving is assessed.

What is craving? Models and implications for treatment.

Although many alcoholics experience craving, researchers have not yet developed a common, valid definition of the phenomenon. Numerous models of the mechanisms underlying craving have been suggested, however. One of those models--the neuroadaptive model--suggests that the prolonged presence of alcohol induces changes in brain-cell function.

Parental stress and child behavioral outcomes following substance abuse residential treatment. Follow-up at 6 and 12 months.

Residential treatment programs specifically designed for alcohol/drug-addicted women and their children have become a popular treatment modality across the United States. Outcome evaluation of these programs are beginning to show promising results. In this article, outcome data from a study of a residential substance abuse treatment program for women and young children in rural South Carolina will be presented.

Acute and protracted cocaine abstinence in an outpatient population: a prospective study of mood, sleep and withdrawal symptoms.

This study addresses unresolved questions about cocaine withdrawal by prospectively assessing monitored cocaine abstinence over 28 days in a sample of 24 male and female cocaine-dependent outpatients. Based on results from urine drug screens and self-reported substance use, it is likely that these patients were abstinent from cocaine during the assessment period. Abstinence-related symptoms were monitored at 2, 5, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days following last cocaine use.

Drinking in alcoholics following an alcohol challenge research protocol.

Objective: The present study examined the impact of participating in an alcohol administration study on the subsequent drinking behavior of 25 non-treatment-seeking alcoholics.

Method: Subjects attended two assessment sessions, followed by a week-long regimen on one of three pharmacological agents (naltrexone, nalmefene, or placebo), a day-long laboratory assessment including a standardized alcohol administration procedure, and a debriefing session consisting of individualized feedback and alcohol counseling. Follow-up consisted of a telephone interview 6 weeks after the alcohol challenge session.

Delta-opioid and 5-HT3 receptor antagonist effects on ethanol reward and discrimination in C57BL/6 mice.

The effects of the receptor antagonists MDL 72222 (MDL, 5-HT3) and naltrindole (delta-opioid) on ethanol reward and its discrimination were examined in ethanol-preferring C57BL/6 (C57) mice. MDL attenuated lever responding for 12% ethanol delivered on a fixed-ratio 8 reinforcement schedule at a dose that did not influence responding for water reward, thus confirming a previous report that ICS 205-930 reduced ethanol reward for Long-Evans rats. Our study in combination with the reduced ethanol consumption reported for C57 mice injected with odansetron indicates that 5-HT3 receptor systems are involved in mediating behavior directed toward obtaining ethanol as well as its consumption.

Differential urge and salivary responsivity to alcohol cues in alcohol-dependent patients: a comparison of traditional and stringent classification approaches.

Seventy alcohol-dependent individuals were presented with alcohol and water cues on separate trials while salivary responding and self-reported urge for alcohol were measured. Researchers used 2 distinct classification approaches to classify participants as either responders or nonresponders on urge and salivation. Through a traditional classification approach, both urge and salivary responder groups reported higher pleasantness ratings in response to the alcohol cues than nonresponders, yet did not differ on measures of alcohol dependence or withdrawal.

Alcohol plus cocaine prenatally is more deleterious than either drug alone.

A C57BL/6J mouse model was used to examine the coteratology of alcohol and cocaine. Plugged female mice were assigned to one of four treatment groups: control, cocaine only, alcohol only, or alcohol-cocaine. Experimental animals were treated from gestation day (GD) 6-18 and were killed the morning of GD 19.

Amlodipine treatment of cocaine dependence.

Preclinical studies indicate that dihydropyridine-type calcium channel antagonists modulate dopamine neurotransmitter function and can reduce cocaine-reinforced behaviors. Amlodipine, a long-acting dihydropyridine-type calcium channel antagonist related to isradipine and nifedipine, was administered in open label fashion for 12 weeks to 26 cocaine-dependent patients. In subjects expressing cocaine craving, craving significantly declined during the course of the 12 weeks.

Intimate violence and post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals with cocaine dependence.

Intimate physical assault and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed in a sample of 91 adults seeking treatment for cocaine dependence. Physical assault included self-report of aggravated assault with a weapon, aggravated assault without a weapon, and simple assault. PTSD was assessed with a structured interview.

Ethanol consumption and place-preference conditioning in the alcohol-preferring C57BL/6 mouse: relationship with motor activity patterns.

Ethanol place-preference conditioning (PC) was conducted in drug-naive and ethanol pre-exposed female and male C57BL/6J (C57) mice to assess whether environmental cues can develop positive incentive value for ethanol-preferring animals when associated with administration of ethanol. After 12 days episodic access to free-choice ethanol and/or water self-administration, mice received eight ethanol injections (1.75 g/kg/i.

Operant ethanol reward in C57BL/6 mice: influence of gender and procedural variables.

Food-deprived C57BL/6 (C57) mice of either sex responded for oral ethanol rewards delivered on ratio schedules of reinforcement, thus extending to female C57 mice effects previously reported only for male members of the strain. Lever responding for ethanol reward was influenced by thirst motivation (post- vs. preprandial tests), time of access to ethanol reward, ethanol concentration, and reinforcement schedule.

Ethanol consumption by C57BL/6 mice: influence of gender and procedural variables.

Both sexes of C57BL/6 (C57) mice consumed substantial quantities of ethanol without food or water deprivation whether access was continuous or limited. Food deprivation increased the amount of ethanol consumed, and the amount consumed depended upon when the animals were tested with reference to their daily food allotment. Ethanol consumption was greater if the mice were tested postprandially, high thirst motivation, rather than preprandially (approximately 10 vs.

HIV-risk behaviors in adolescent substance abusers.

Thirty adolescents aged 12-18 years from each group (substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and controls) were assessed to explore HIV-risk behaviors and knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Semi-structured instruments for psychiatric and substance use disorders were also administered. There were no significant differences between groups in knowledge of HIV/AIDS.

The effect of drinking intensity and frequency on serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyl transferase levels in outpatient alcoholics.

Whereas heavy alcohol consumption is known to elevate serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels, the contribution of drinking pattern to these effects is not completely understood. We present data on 423 men and 146 women evaluated 1 year after treatment in a large-scale alcoholism treatment study (Project MATCH). Relationships between drinking frequency (number of days drinking), intensity (drinks per drinking day), and blood levels of CDT and GGT were analyzed by using response surface regression models and thin-plate spline-smoothing techniques.

Comparison of social abilities of children with fetal alcohol syndrome to those of children with similar IQ scores and normal controls.

Children diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) were assessed with items from the social skills domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) via interviews with their caregivers. Their scores were compared with scores from children in two control groups. The control groups included children matched for IQ to the FAS group (specifically on verbal IQ, henceforth, the VIQ group) and children with IQ scores in the average to above-average range (normal control group).

Ethanol and parturition: a role for prostaglandins.

A common pattern of birth defects was reported in children born to alcoholic women over 20 years ago. Shortly thereafter the constellation of defects became known as the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and reports from around the world served to acknowledge the pervasiveness of the disorder. Simultaneously with the clinical reports, animal models were developed to characterize the full spectrum of the teratogenic effects of ethanol.

Cocaine discrimination: relationship to local anesthetics and monoamine uptake inhibitors in C57BL/6 mice.

Although the discriminative properties of cocaine have been examined extensively in rats, and to a lesser extent in other species, there are currently no reports on cocaine discrimination by mice. In one of our experiments, C57BL/6 (C57) mice acquired cocaine discrimination (10 mg/kg training dose) and exhibited dose responsive generalization to lower doses of the drug, which was similar to previous reports using rats. In addition, mazindol, a general monoamine uptake inhibitor similar to cocaine, and nomifensine, which is relatively specific for the dopamine transporter, substituted completely for cocaine, as described for rats.

A study examining intravenous ethanol-conditioned place preference in C57BL/6J mice.

The reinforcing effects of intravenous (I.V.) ethanol were examined in C57BL/6J (C57) mice with a conditioned-place-preference (CPP) paradigm.

A novel chronic and detachable indwelling jugular catheterization procedure for mice.

The purpose of this study was to describe and demonstrate the usefulness of a chronic, detachable, indwelling jugular catheterization apparatus in mice that can be applied to acute or chronic I.V. drug administration in freely moving, unrestrained mice.

Pergolide mesylate. Adverse events occurring in the treatment of cocaine dependence.

In this preliminary report from a placebo-controlled, double-blind, dose-response study on the use of pergolide mesylate for cocaine dependence in outpatients 8 out of 235 subjects noted adverse events requiring breaking of the blind. Events occurred at or within 7 days of receiving the first dose of medication and included side effects (four cardiovascular, one psychiatric); drug-drug interactions (one): and clinical exclusions (two pregnancies). Two anecdotes of illicit abuse are reported.

Early onset of parturition induced by acute alcohol exposure in C57BL/6J mice: role of uterine PGE and PGF2alpha.

These studies were designed to determine the effect of acute alcohol treatment on gestational length and to probe for a mechanism underlying alcohol-induced early onset of parturition (EOP) in mice. Experiment 1: alcohol increases the incidence of EOP. Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were given alcohol (0, 4, 5 or 6 g kg(-1), i.