Addiction RCT

UNLABELLED: Dependence is a hallmark feature of opiate addiction and is defined by the emergence of somatic and affective withdrawal signs. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) integrates dopaminergic and glutamatergic inputs to mediate rewarding and aversive properties of opiates. Evidence suggests that AMPA glutamate-receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity within the NAc underlies aspects of addiction. However, the degree to which NAc AMPA receptors (AMPARs) contribute to somatic and affective signs of opiate withdrawal is not fully understood...

Decreased motivation to work for a natural reward is a sign of amphetamine withdrawal and is thought to be associated with hypofunction of the mesolimbic dopamine system. During withdrawal from repeated amphetamine administration, rats showed reduced responding for a sweet solution in a progressive ratio schedule. Repeated systemic treatment with terguride (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) twice daily during the first four days of amphetamine withdrawal reversed the decrease in responding for the sweet solution. These results suggest that dopamine partial agonists, possibly due to their agonistic-like actions under these conditions, are a potential therapeutic approach for the acute withdrawal stage of the amphetamine addition cycle...

Whether methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) can improve the basal function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is suppressed by long-term heroin consumption, is a matter of debate. The stress state and depression and anxiety symptoms may affect the basal activity of the HPA axis in MMT patients. However, the effect of psychological factors on HPA activity was not simultaneously controlled in previous studies. This study investigated differences in HPA basal activity between MMT patients and controls using psychological variables as covariates...

The aim of this study was to identify the possible association between biochemical markers of exercise addiction and affective parameters in a sample of athletes during 2weeks of withdrawal exercise. Eighteen male runners were distributed into a control group (n=10) composed of runners without exercise addiction symptoms and an exercise addiction group (n=8) composed of runners with exercise addiction symptoms. The volunteers performed a baseline evaluation that included affective questionnaires, blood samples, body composition and an aerobic test performed at ventilatory threshold I...

BACKGROUND: The rapid rise in the number of methamphetamine users, relative to cocaine users, has brought the number of each to nearly equal levels, making research on similarities and differences across these groups a needed area of exploration. Craving is postulated to play a significant role in relapse for both user types, yet group differences on observed scale scores have been reported without first assessing the prerequisite measurement equivalence (invariance) of the items, which is essential for meaningful group comparisons...

Despite extensive evidence for cognitive deficits associated with drug use and multiple publications supporting the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation treatment (CRT) services for drug addictions, there are a few well-structured tools and organized programs to improve cognitive abilities in substance users. Most published studies on cognitive rehabilitation for drug dependent patients used rehabilitation tools, which have been previously designed for other types of brain injuries such as schizophrenia or traumatic brain injuries and not specifically designed for drug dependent patients...

Antipsychotic treatment can produce supersensitivity to dopamine receptor stimulation. This compromises the efficacy of ongoing treatment and increases the risk of relapse to psychosis upon treatment cessation. Serotonin 5-HT2 receptors modulate dopamine function and thereby influence dopamine-dependent responses. Here we evaluated the hypothesis that 5-HT2 receptors modulate the behavioural expression of antipsychotic-induced dopamine supersensitivity. To this end, we first treated rats with the antipsychotic haloperidol using a clinically relevant treatment regimen...

Chronic administration of amphetamine (AMPH) has been reported to produce tolerance to the drug's behavioral effects in some paradigms (self-stimulation, discriminative stimulus, self-administration) and an enhanced effect or reverse tolerance when other behaviors are monitored (locomotor activity, stereotypy). The present study investigated whether the two phenomena are, in fact, related to the particular behavior monitored or reflect the marked differences in the injection regimens (1X vs. 3X daily injections) used to produce the phenomena...

OBJECTIVE: Currently there is no approved pharmacotherapy for amphetamine dependence. Recent human laboratory studies have demonstrated that naltrexone modulates some of the reinforcing effects of amphetamine. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of naltrexone in comparison with placebo in reducing relapse to amphetamine use in amphetamine-dependent patients. METHOD: Eighty patients who met DSM-IV criteria for amphetamine dependence were randomized to 12 weeks of double-blind naltrexone (50 mg) or placebo treatment...