Substance Abuse

"Prevalence of past 12-month co-occurring AUD (abuse or dependence) and MDE was 1.2%, corresponding to about 2.4 million adults ages 18 and older. Among males with alcohol dependence, comorbid MDE was associated with a greater number of days drinking at home alone. Among females and males with alcohol abuse and dependence, comorbid MDE was associated with higher prevalence of drinking to enhance depressed mood. Comorbid MDE was also associated with lower levels of some drinking behaviors among those with alcohol abuse."

Consideration of a proposal to unify NIH addiction research under one body, legal implications,difficulties with cooperation and data sharing, funding logistics, short term costs versus potential long term gains

"Addiction is a chronic disorder characterised by repeated bouts of drug taking, abstinence and relapse. The addicted state may be in part due to drug-induced neuroadaptations in the mesocorticolimbic and corticostriatal pathways. Recently focus has been on the role of aberrant glutamate transmission and its contribution to the hierarchical control over these systems. This review will expand our current knowledge of the most recent advances that have been made in preclinical animal models that provide evidence that implicate metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in contributing to the neuroadaptations pertinent to addiction, as well as the role of Homer proteins in regulating these responses. The recent discovery of receptor mosaics will be discussed which add an additional dimension to the complexity of understanding the mechanism of glutamate mediated behaviours. Finally this review introduces a new area related to glutamatergic responses, namely microRNAs, that may become pivotal in directing our future understanding of how to best target intervention strategies to prevent addictive behaviours."

"There has been growing evidence in recent years of the importance of gender specific issues in the addiction field. This paper explores specific problems and including specific health consequences faced by women who drink or use drugs. We describe helpful screening tools that can be used in the primary care setting and offer an understanding of some of the barriers preventing women from seeking help. This article also provides guidance on the best pharmacotherapy and psychological interventions that can be used to help women recover from their addiction. "

Results of a 2008 SAMHSA study

"Chronic alcoholism leads to neurotoxic effects in the central nervous system. Neuroadaptive changes in the brain may lead to tolerance to, and dependence on, alcohol as a result of alterations in synaptic complexity. G-proteins are negatively regulated by RGS proteins, which are integral to many neural pathways that include neurotransmission, hormonal responses, and chemotactic signals. These considerations, together with findings from microarray analyses of human autopsy brain, suggest that proteins involved in G-protein signalling, specifically the RGS protein family, may play an important role in the functioning of neural systems that are affected by chronic alcohol abuse. We used Real Time PCR to measure the expression of two members of the RGS family, RGS4 and RGS7, in the superior frontal gyrus and primary motor cortex from alcoholic and non-alcoholic cases. Overall, cirrhotic alcoholics had lower expression levels of RGS4 mRNA than controls and non-cirrhotic alcoholics. We also report that the four RGS4 SNPs (SNP1, 4, 7 and 18) may be associated with alcoholism in European Caucasians at the haplotype level. The haplotype T-C-G (SNP1-4-18) may exert a protective effect against alcoholism."

"Quetiapine has advanced as a potentially promising pharmacotherapy for alcoholism. Additional research is needed to more clearly ascertain its clinical utility as a stand-alone treatment for this indication, as well as to identify patients who are more likely to respond favourably to this medication."

"Among a nationally representative sample of adults with an alcohol use disorder, the authors tested whether perceived stigmatization of alcoholism was associated with a lower likelihood of receiving alcohol-related services. "

"This article focuses on GWAS of alcohol addiction and provides an overview of GWAS of other substance abuse disorders. "

"A review of the literature was performed to find articles relating current and developing pharmacological treatments in the clinic and their underlying neuropharmacology. We focussed on the most common addictions for which pharmacology plays an important role. By characterizing what neurotransmitters modulate this dopaminergic pathway, new medications are now in the clinic and being successfully applied to treat a variety of addictions. In addition to modulating this reward pathway, alternative approaches in the future will target learning and memory, improving impulse control and decision-making. "

Literature review from the point of view of social aesthetics, that treatment options are not sufficiently attractive for SA patients. "When treatment objectives and programmes become more attractive the result will be reduced drop-out rates, and in turn an increase of treatment effectiveness. "

Performance based contracting employed in Maine's Substance Abuse Treatment system evaluated using empirical analyses

"Religiosity appears to moderate the genetic effects on problem alcohol use during adolescence, but not during early adulthood. The reduced genetic variance for problem alcohol use in adolescence may be the consequence of greater social control in adolescence than in young adulthood."

A control study involving twenty alcohol-dependent patients, half given a sniff of alcohol and half given a sniff of water and then all directed toward inhibition task. Self-control measured and found to be lessened with those feeling alcohol compulsion.

"the genes encoding the ghrelin signaling system cannot be regarded as major susceptibility genes for female alcohol dependence, but is, however, involved in paternal heritability and may affect other reward- and energy-related factors such as smoking and BMI."

Review of literature on imaging studies of dopamine