Antidepressant Medication Does Not Contribute to the Elevated Circulating Concentrations of Acylethanolamides Found in Substance Use Disorder Patients

Circulating acylethanolamides (NAEs) are bioactive signaling molecules that modulate multiple homeostatic functions including mood and hedonic responses. Variations in their plasma concentrations are associated with substance use disorders (SUD) and recent studies suggest that psychotropic medication might influence its circulating levels, limiting its use as a clinical biomarker of addiction. In addition, they might have a role as mediators of the pharmacological effects of psychotropic drugs. Thus, in mild depression, the response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-type antidepressants (SSRI) is associated with a marked increase in circulating NAEs. To further investigate if antidepressants are able to modify the plasma concentration of NAEs in SUD patients, we analyzed the circulating levels of NAEs in 333 abstinent and 175 healthy controls on the basis of the treatment with SSRI antidepressants. As described previously, SUD patients display higher concentrations of NAEs than those measured in a control population. This increase was not further modified by antidepressant therapy. Only marginal increases in palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), oleoylethanolamide (OEA), or docosatetraenoyl-ethanolamide (DEA) were found, and the net effect was very small. Thus, our study shows that treatment with SSRI-type antidepressants does not modify the clinical utility of monitoring enhanced NAE production as biomarkers of SUD. In addition, the possibility that a blunted NAE response to antidepressant therapy might be related to the loss of efficacy of SSRIs in dual depression emerges as an attractive hypothesis that needs to be addressed in future studies.

Antipsychotic Medication Influences the Discriminative Value of Acylethanolamides as Biomarkers of Substance Use Disorder

Plasma acylethanolamides (NAEs), including the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA), have been proposed as circulating biomarkers of substance use disorders. However, the concentration of these lipid transmitters might be influenced by the use of drugs prescribed for either the treatment of addiction or the associated psychiatric co-morbidities such as psychosis. As an example, neuroleptics, used for attenuation of psychotic symptoms and sedation, might theoretically interfere with the monoamine-mediated production of NAEs, obstructing the interpretation of plasma NAEs as clinical biomarkers. To solve the lack of information on the impact of neuroleptics on the concentration of NAEs, we evaluated the concentrations of NAEs in a control group and compared them to those present in (a) substance use disorders (SUD) patients that are not prescribed with neuroleptics, and (b) SUD patients (both alcohol use disorder and cocaine use disorder patients) using neuroleptics. The results demonstrate that SUD patients exhibited greater concentrations of NAEs than the control population, affecting all species with the exception of stearoylethanolamide (SEA) and palmitoleoylethanolamide (POEA). Neuroleptic treatment enhanced the concentrations of NAEs, especially those of AEA, linoleoylethanolamide (LEA), and oleoylethanolamide (OEA). This effect of neuroleptic treatment was observed independently of the drug addiction that motivated the demand for treatment (either alcohol or cocaine). This study remarks the need to control the current use of psychotropic medication as a potential confounding variable when considering the use of NAEs as biomarkers in SUD.

Vascular adrenal pseudocyst: cytologic and immunohistochemical study

Adrenal vascular cysts are rare lesions that might be considered in the differential diagnosis of adrenal tumors. Their origin is not clear. We report the clinicopathological findings of a large adrenal hemorrhagic pseudocyst (AHP) in a 73-yr-old man who complained of abdominal pain. An abdominal CT showed a 9 cm tumor in the left adrenal. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was hemorrhagic and inconclusive. The tumor was excised and touch imprints were taken showing groups of spindled and fusiform cells with elongated nuclei, without atypia. Histologically, the tumor was well delimited by a fibrous capsule and contained numerous cystic spaces lined by endothelial cells and filled with erythrocytes, fibrin thrombus, and necrotic debris. Immunohistochemical study showed strong positivity for factor VIII-RA, CD31, and CD34. Also, the remaining adrenal showed a prominent frame of thin and medium caliber vessels, supporting a vascular origin for this entity. This case illustrates the difficulty in making a diagnosis by FNA and to keep in mind AHP when hematic aspirates are obtained from an adrenal tumor mass.

[Perforated duodenal ulcer in children]

We face a case of duodenal ulcer perforation a nine year old child who's diagnosis was not detected before operating. This is an unusual case and it is not normally observed in the differential diagnosis of the acute abdominal pain in the infancy. The lack of the radiological signs of perforation contributed to the diagnosis mistake before operating.

[Colonic lesion caused by acute pancreatitis. Use of minimal catheter jejunostomy. Apropos of 6 cases]

Colonic affectation in the context of acute pancreatitis is undoubtedly a rare complication to judge from the number of cases reported in the literature, but its appearance is increasing, perhaps because it is receiving more attention. The "infrequent" complications of so-called acute pancreatitis range from massive necrosis of the colon to fistula of the transverse colon, colonic stricture as a chronic manifestation and finally, colonic varices as a sign of segmental portal hypertension due to involvement of the mesenteric portal axis. A retrospective study was made of 6 cases treated in our General and Digestive Surgery Department and the literature on this etiopathogenic situation was reviewed to study the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of these uncommon complications. We propose minimal catheter jejunostomy as a technique for the prevention and treatment of possible complications, with epidural analgesia of these patients.