Impact of co-administration of oxycodone and smoked cannabis on analgesia and abuse liability.

Cannabinoids combined with opioids produce synergistic antinociceptive effects, decreasing the lowest effective antinociceptive opioid dose (i.e., opioid-sparing effects) in laboratory animals.

Safety and efficacy of an oxycodone vaccine: Addressing some of the unique considerations posed by opioid abuse.

Among vaccines aimed at treating substance use disorders, those targeting opioids present several unique medication development challenges. 1) Opioid overdose is a common complication of abuse, so it is desirable for an opioid vaccine to block the toxic as well as the addictive effects of opioids. 2) It is important that an opioid vaccine not interfere with the action of opioid antagonists used to reverse opioid overdose or treat addiction.

Chronic pain and opioid abuse: Factors associated with health-related quality of life.

Background And Objectives: While research on the separate relationships between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and chronic pain, and HRQOL and opioid abuse has been sparse, even less work has investigated the factors associated with HRQOL in individuals who have both chronic pain and meet criteria for opioid use disorder. The data presented in this analysis should allow a better understanding the factors important to quality of life among this dual-diagnosed population.

Methods: Individuals with dual diagnoses of chronic pain and opioid use disorder were recruited for clinical research studies at Columbia University Medical Center.

Methodology for controlled administration of smoked synthetic cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-073.

Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are a significant public health concern given their widespread use and severe effects associated with intoxication. However, there is a paucity of controlled human studies investigating the behavioral and physiological effects and pharmacokinetics of these compounds. Designing a reliable method to administer consistent, concentration-dependent synthetic cannabinoids is an integral component of controlled study of these compounds.

Substance Use and HIV Risk Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Africa: A Systematic Review.

Background: Substance use and its relation to HIV risk among men who have sex in Africa, a population at high risk for HIV, has received little attention.

Methods: This systematic review summarizes and discusses findings from 68 empirical studies, published between 1980 and 2016 that included data about substance use in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Africa.

Results: Substance use has rarely been the primary focus of studies in African MSM.

Sex-Dependent Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Translational Perspective.

Recent policy changes have led to significant increases in the use of cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes. Although men are more likely to endorse past month cannabis use and are more frequently diagnosed with Cannabis Use Disorder relative to women, a growing proportion of medical cannabis users are reported to be women. The increased popularity of cannabis for medical purposes and the narrowing gap in prevalence of use between men and women raises questions regarding sex-dependent effects related to therapeutic efficacy and negative health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids.

Smoked marijuana attenuates performance and mood disruptions during simulated night shift work.

Individuals who work nonstandard schedules, such as rotating or night shifts, are more susceptible to workplace injuries, performance decrements, and reduced productivity. This population is also almost twice as likely to use illicit drugs as individuals working a standard day shift. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of smoked marijuana on performance, mood, and sleep during simulated shift work.

Modafinil decreases cocaine choice in human cocaine smokers only when the response requirement and the alternative reinforcer magnitude are large.

This study examined how response effort (pressing a keyboard button) for cocaine and the value of an alternative reinforcer (opportunity to play a game of chance for money) combined with 'free' cocaine (with no response effort) affected cocaine choice when participants were maintained on modafinil or placebo. Nontreatment-seeking current cocaine smokers were enrolled in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, within-subject study comprising both inpatient and outpatient phases. Participants were maintained on placebo capsules (0mg/day) during one inpatient phase and modafinil (300mg/day) capsules during another inpatient phase in counter-balanced order.

Sex-dependent effects of cannabis-induced analgesia.

Background: Preclinical studies demonstrate that cannabinoid-mediated antinociceptive effects vary according to sex; it is unknown if these findings extend to humans.

Methods: This retrospective analysis compared the analgesic, subjective and physiological effects of active cannabis (3.56-5.

Choice in HIV testing: the acceptability and anticipated use of a self-administered at-home oral HIV test among South Africans.

Combination HIV prevention is being widely promoted by funders. This strategy aims to offer HIV prevention choices that can be selected and combined to decrease HIV risk in ways that fit with each individual's situation. Treatment as prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis are two new evidence-based strategies to decrease HIV incidence, both of which require high HIV testing rates to be effective, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has set a goal of 90% of HIV-positive individuals knowing their status by 2030.

An Approach to Developing a Prediction Model of Fertility Intent Among HIV-Positive Women and Men in Cape Town, South Africa: A Case Study.

As a 'case-study' to demonstrate an approach to establishing a fertility-intent prediction model, we used data collected from recently diagnosed HIV-positive women (N = 69) and men (N = 55) who reported inconsistent condom use and were enrolled in a sexual and reproductive health intervention in public sector HIV care clinics in Cape Town, South Africa. Three theoretically-driven prediction models showed reasonable sensitivity (0.70-1.

Narrative Methods and Sociocultural Linguistic Approaches in Facilitating In-depth Understanding of HIV Disclosure in a Cohort of Women and Men in Cape Town, South Africa.

The South African National Department of Health has rapidly extended free public-sector antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV from 2007. Approximately 6 million people are living with HIV in South Africa, with 3.1 million currently on treatment.

The effects of oral d-amphetamine on impulsivity in smoked and intranasal cocaine users.

Background: Effective treatments for cocaine use disorders remain elusive. Two factors that may be related to treatment failures are route of cocaine used and impulsivity. Smoked cocaine users are more likely to have poorer treatment outcomes compared to intranasal cocaine users.

Speaking of That: Terms to Avoid or Reconsider in the Eating Disorders Field.

Inspired by an article on 50 terms that, in the interest of clarity in scientific reasoning and communication in psychology, psychiatry, and allied fields, "should be avoided or at most be used sparingly and only with explicit caveats,"(1) we propose a list of terms to avoid or think twice about before using when writing for the International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED). Drawing upon our experience as reviewers or editors for the IJED, we generated an abridged list of such terms. For each term, we explain why it made our list and what alternatives we recommend.

Adverse Effects of Synthetic Cannabinoids: Management of Acute Toxicity and Withdrawal.

Although several chemical structural classes of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) were recently classified as Schedule I substances, rates of use and cases of serious toxic effects remain high. While case reports and media bring attention to severe SC toxicity, daily SC use resulting in dependence and withdrawal is a significant concern that is often overlooked when discussing the risks of these drugs. There is a rich literature on evidence-based approaches to treating substance use disorders associated with most abused drugs, yet little has been published regarding how to best treat symptoms related to SC dependence given its recency as an emerging clinically significant issue.

Gender Assignment, Reassignment and Outcome in Disorders of Sex Development: Update of the 2005 Consensus Conference.

Background: Societal changes are increasingly moving the conceptualization of gender from a set of binary categories towards a bimodal continuum, which along with the cautious conclusions resulting from the 2005 Consensus Conference influences gender-related clinical work with patients with disorders of sex development.

Objective: This article provides an update of these developments over the past decade along with an overview of pertinent new data.

Conclusion: Considerably more research is needed on larger sample sizes with systematic long-term follow-up to ground the emerging trends in clinical management of the highly diverse disorders of sex development syndromes in a solid empirical basis.

Opinions of Japanese and American ALS caregivers regarding tracheostomy with invasive ventilation (TIV).

Our objective was to learn more about possible factors contributing to the higher rates of tracheostomy with invasive ventilation (TIV) for ALS patients in Japan compared with the United States by eliciting attitudes of caregivers of ALS patients in both countries. One hundred and fifty-four American caregivers from five, geographically-distributed ALS clinics and 66 Japanese caregivers from six sites in Japan completed questionnaires regarding TIV. Results showed that 33% of American caregivers were in favor of TIV for their family member compared to 53% of Japanese caregivers; 44% of American and 37% of Japanese caregivers were undecided; and 22% of American and 10% of Japanese caregivers were opposed (p <.

A pilot study of Brief IPT-A delivered in primary care.

Objective: The objective was to examine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a brief version of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (BIPT-A) in low-income Latino adolescents treated in an urban pediatric primary care setting.

Method: Ten adolescents, ages 12 to 19 years, who were referred by their pediatric providers and met criteria for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, depression diagnosis participated. Participants received 6 weekly sessions of BIPT-A.

Development of translational preclinical models in substance abuse: Effects of cocaine administration on cocaine choice in humans and non-human primates.

Human drug use involves repeated choices to take drugs or to engage in alternative behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine how response cost for cocaine and the value of an alternative reinforcer (opportunity to play a game of chance) and how 'free' doses (with minimal response cost) affected cocaine choice. Two laboratory studies of cocaine self-administration were conducted in a group of humans who were habitual cocaine smokers and in a group of rhesus monkeys that intravenously self-administered cocaine.