DARK Side of Amphetamine and Analogues: Pharmacology, Syndromic Manifestation, and Management of Amphetamine Addiction

Chronic Treatment with Nigella sativa Oil Exerts Antimanic Properties and Reduces Brain Inflammation in Rats

Nigella sativa (NS) is a native herb consumed habitually in several countries worldwide, possessing manifold therapeutic properties. Among them, anti-inflammatory features have been reported, presumably relating to mechanisms involved in the nuclear factor kappa-B pathway, among others. Given the observed association between neuroimmune factors and mental illness, the primary aim of the present study was to examine the effects of chronic NS use on manic-like behavior in rats, as well as analyze levels of brain inflammatory mediators following NS intake. Using male and female rats, baseline tests were performed; thereafter, rats were fed either regular food (control) or NS-containing food (treatment) for four weeks. Following intervention, behavioral tests were induced (an open field test, sucrose consumption test, three-chamber sociality test, and amphetamine-induced hyperactivity test). Subsequently, brain samples were extracted, and inflammatory mediators were evaluated, including interleukin-6, leukotriene B4, prostaglandin E2, tumor necrosis factor-α, and nuclear phosphorylated-p65. Our findings show NS to result in a marked antimanic-like effect, in tandem with a positive modulation of select inflammatory mediators among male and female rats. The findings reinforce the proposed therapeutic advantages relating to NS ingestion.

Risk of psychosis in illicit amphetamine users: a 10 year retrospective cohort study

QUESTION

Amphetamine use is a risk factor for psychosis, which imposes a substantial burden on society. We aimed to investigate the incidence of psychosis associated with illicit amphetamine use and whether rehabilitation treatments could influence the psychosis risk.

STUDY SELECTION AND ANALYSIS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the population based Taiwan Illicit Drug Issue Database (TIDID) and the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), from 2007 to 2016. We identified 74 601 illicit amphetamine users as the amphetamine cohort and 2 98 404 subjects as the non-amphetamine cohort. The incidence rate of newly diagnosed psychosis was the main outcome. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to assess the effects of amphetamine, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the cumulative psychosis incidence curves.

FINDINGS

Illicit amphetamine users were 5.28 times more likely to experience psychosis than those without illicit drug use records. The risk was higher for subjects with multiple arrests for amphetamine use. A greater hazard ratio (HR) magnitude was observed in female patients. We also observed a significant decrease in the risk of psychosis in patients receiving rehabilitation treatments during deferred prosecution (adjusted HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.89).

CONCLUSIONS

Illicit amphetamine use was associated with an increased incidence of psychosis. The risk was identified across all age groups, particularly in women and in those arrested multiple times, and was inversely correlated with rehabilitation treatments for amphetamine misuse.

A novel four‑snoRNA signature for predicting the survival of patients with uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma (UM), the predominant histological subtype of intraocular malignant tumors in adults, often results in high rates of mortality; effective prognostic signatures used to predict the survival of patients with UM are limited. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in the processes of carcinogenesis and tumor progression, but knowledge of their application as prognostic markers in UM is limited. In the present study, the expression profiles of snoRNAs in UM were determined; a total of 60 snoRNAs were notably associated with the overall survival of patients with UM via univariate Cox survival analysis. Subsequently, a prognostic signature based on four snoRNAs was proposed, which retained their prognostic significance determined by a multivariate Cox survival analysis. The formula is as follows: ACA17 * (‑1.602) + ACA45 * 0.803 + HBII‑276 * 0.603 + SNORD12 * 1.348. Furthermore, the results of in silico analysis indicated that perturbation of the phototransduction, GABAergic synapse and amphetamine addiction pathways may be the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the poor prognosis of patients with UM. Collectively, the present study proposed a potential prognostic signature for patients with UM and the prospective mechanisms at the genome‑wide level were determined.