ghb gh

Behavioral aspects of organized sports activity for pediatric athletes are considered in a world consumed with winning at all costs. In the first part of this treatise, we deal with a number of themes faced by our children in their sports play. These concepts include the lure of sports, sports attrition, the mental health of pediatric athletes (i.e., effects of stress, anxiety, depression, suicide in athletes, ADHD and stimulants, coping with injuries, drug use, and eating disorders), violence in sports (i...

Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are represented by several compounds used to ameliorate the image, the appearance, or an athletic or non-athletic performance. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is an endogenous molecule first used as anesthetic and then marketed as a nutritional supplement with a wide diffusion in the bodybuilding community. The aim of the present work is to provide a toxicological characterization of the use of GHB as a PED, including the scientific basis for its use, the patterns of use/abuse, and the health risks arising from its consumption in this peculiar recreative setting...

BACKGROUND: One of the main causes of anaemia in patients with end-stage renal disease is relative deficiency in erythropoietin production. Eythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA), a potent haematopoietic growth factor, is used to treat anaemia in haemodialysis patients. The effect of ESA is usually assessed by haematological indices such as red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration and haematocrit, but erythrocyte indices do not provide information of the rapid change in erythropoietic activity...

Improving oil production for high-salinity reservoirs using polymer flooding is challenging due to chemical and mechanical degradations. This study developed two biodegradable biopolymers based on graft copolymerization of guar gum (GG) with two different co-monomers, which are acrylamide (Am) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS), and cross-linked by N,N '-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) to face these challenges. The newly synthesized guar gum-based hydrogels, GG- g -poly(Am-AMPS) (GH) and GG- g -poly(Am-AMPS)/Biochar (GBH composite), were evaluated as potential candidates for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) under high-salinity conditions...

In recent years, growth hormone (GH), together with its secondary mediators insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2), have been highlighted for their beneficial effects in the central nervous system (CNS), in particular as cognitive enhancers. Cognitive processes, such as learning and memory, are known to be impaired in individuals suffering from substance abuse. In the present study, we investigated the effect of gamma-hydroxybuturate (GHB), an illicit drug used for its sedating and euphoric properties, on genes associated with the somatotrophic axis in regions of the brain important for cognitive function...

BACKGROUND: The etiology of fibromyalgia syndrome is not yet fully understood. Current hypotheses suggest a potential role of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in influencing endocrinological abnormalities in patients with fibromyalgia. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate whether low dose GHB as a growth-hormone releasing substance reduces pain intensity and improves depressive mood, physical impairment and sleep quality in outpatients with fibromyalgia...

The administration of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) has been reported to augment the increase in growth hormone (GH) secretion associated with the onset of sleep. The ability of GHB to stimulate GH production in the absence of sleep in both male and female volunteers was investigated as part of a GHB administration study. Twelve healthy volunteers (six men and six women) were given a small oral dose (25 mg/kg) of GHB (as Xyrem® ) at 10:00 h. Basal blood samples (as serum) were taken 10 min prior to GHB administration, with additional samples taken at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 240, 360 and 480 min post-administration...

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was originally introduced as an anesthetic but was first abused by bodybuilders and then became a recreational or club drug.1 Sodium salt of GHB is currently used for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. The mode of action and metabolism of GHB is not well understood. GHB stimulates growth hormone release in humans and induces weight loss in treated patients, suggesting an unexplored metabolic effect. In different experiments the effect of GHB administration on central (cerebral cortex) and peripheral (liver) biochemical processes involved in the metabolism of the drug, as well as the effects of the drug on metabolism, were evaluated in mice...

BACKGROUND: Hypermetabolism and hyposomatotropism related to severe burns lead to impaired wound healing. Growth hormone (GH) boosts wound healing notably following stimulation of the production of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), a mitogen factor for keratinocytes. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) stimulates endogenous GH secretion. AIM: To assess effects of GHB sedation on keratinocytes proliferation (based on immunohistochemical techniques). DESIGN: Monocentric, prospective, controlled trial...

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is a naturally occurring analog of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) that has been used in research and clinical medicine for many years. GHB was used clinically as an anesthetic in the 1960s but was withdrawn due to side effects that included seizures and coma. GHB has been implicated in a number of crime types; most notably in drug-facilitated sexual assault. GHB is abused by three main groups of users: Body builders who use the substance believing that it stimulated the release of growth hormone; sexual predators who covertly administer the drug for its sedative and amnesic effects and club-goers (rave parties) who take the drug for its euphoric effects...

BACKGROUND: End-stage renal failure (ESRF) patients demonstrate augmented growth hormone (GH) secretion, but normal insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations, indicating a state of GH resistance. To test this hypothesis, we compared the IGF-I response with exogenous GH in haemodialysis patients and healthy controls, with special focus on free GH and bioactive IGF-I. METHODS: Ultrafiltered free GH and total GH were measured in serum collected hourly for 24 h at baseline and after 7 days of recombinant human (rh) GH (50 µg/kg/day) treatment in 11 non-diabetic haemodialysis patients and 10 matched controls...

INTRODUCTION: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a short-chain fatty acid that is synthesized within the CNS, mostly from its parent compound gamma amino butyric acid (GABA). GHB acts as a neuromodulator/neurotransmitter to affect neuronal activity of other neurotransmitters and so, stimulate the release of growth hormone. Its sodium salt (sodium oxybate: SXB) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of narcolepsy. SXB has shown to improve disrupted sleep and increase NR3 (slow-wave restorative) sleep in patients with narcolepsy...

BACKGROUND: Growth hormone (GH) improves wound healing and ameliorates pediatric postburn tissue catabolism associated with deficient endogenous GH/IGF-1 levels. Expense, parenteral administration, and compliance have limited widespread usage. Gammahydroxybutyrate (GHB), an upstream neuromodulatory gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) derivative, is known to increase slow wave sleep and stimulate endogenous GH secretion. In this study, improvement in GH levels in turn has been shown to accelerate wound healing...

There are increasing reports about the misuse of gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) related compounds. The objective of this article is to examine the use of GHB-containing dietary supplements among college students. An anonymous survey was completed at a university health clinic. The survey asked participants about their experience using GHB compounds and their knowledge about the legal status of GHB and its addictive potential. Two hundred fifteen students responded to the survey. Twenty-eight percent had used GHRE and 19% had used GHB...

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is mainly known because of its popularity as a drug of abuse among young individuals. However this substance increases slow-wave deep sleep and the secretion of growth hormone and besides its role in anaesthesia, it is used in several therapeutic indications including alcohol withdrawal, control of daytime sleep attacks and cataplexy in narcoleptic patients and is proposed for the treatment of fibromyalgia. GHB is also an endogenous substance present in several organs, including brain where it is synthesized from GABA in cells containing glutamic acid decarboxylase, the marker of GABAergic neurons...

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) has been used by body-builders to enhance performance and by young adults in rave parties. Warnings have been posted about its addictive potential. The use of these dietary compounds is currently banned by the Food and Drug Administration, but they are widely available through the Internet and in certain communities. The purpose of the study was to examine the use of these compounds by HIV-positive individuals and to investigate their knowledge of the addictive potential of GHB and its related dietary compounds...

For more than 30 years, growth hormone (GH) has been observed to be preferentially secreted during deep, slow-wave sleep (SWS). However, the mechanisms that underlie this robust relationship that links anabolic processes in the body with behavioral rest and decreased cerebral metabolism remain to be elucidated. Current evidence indicates that GH secretion during the beginning of sleep appears to be primarily regulated by GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) stimulation occurring during a period of relative somatostatin withdrawal, which also is associated with elevated levels of circulating ghrelin...

OBJECTIVE: Among postmenopausal women, those with diabetes experience more cardiovascular diseases than those without diabetes. We examine the relationship of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with indicators of lipid and glucose metabolism using a national sample of diabetic and nondiabetic postmenopausal women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted from 1988 to 1994. A total of 2,786 postmenopausal women aged 40-74 years participated in an oral glucose tolerance test, had blood drawn for lipid assessment, and responded to HRT questions...

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) intoxication is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients taking the drug for recreational purposes. Due to the recent increase in emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and deaths, it has become necessary to re-examine the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical manifestations, and potential adverse effects associated with GHB use. We present an important pharmacologic and clinical update on GHB.

The present study attempted to establish whether long term abstinence from alcohol restores the stimulatory effects on GH secretion of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) that are absent during the first month of alcohol withdrawal. Six 4-year abstinent alcoholic subjects--already tested with GHB 4 years earlier, and seven age- and weight-matched normal controls, were tested p.o. with 800 mg sodium valproate (a drug that enhances endogenous GABA activity), 10 mg baclofen (a GABA(B) receptor agonist), 25 mg/kg body-weight GHB, or a placebo...