Psychopharmacology
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Remifentanil is a mu-opioid agonist with an exceptionally short duration of action. Evaluating remifentanil's effects within the self-administration model of drug abuse may provide insight into the relationship between a drug's duration of action and its effectiveness as a reinforcer. ⋯ Although rates of self-administration are clearly influenced by a drug's duration of action, the ability to maintain responding under intermittent schedules of reinforcement may be independent of duration of action.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Carbamazepine and valproate monotherapy: feasibility, relative safety and efficacy, and therapeutic drug monitoring in manic disorder.
Search for alternatives to lithium therapy for mood disorders commenced with anticonvulsants, carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproic acid (VPA), in the late 1970s. The comparative safety and efficacy data of CBZ and VPA monotherapy in patients with bipolar disorder remain to be established. ⋯ The findings from this study suggest that both CBZ and VPA monotherapy is feasible for treatment of acute mania; however, VPA is more efficacious in terms of its early onset of action, lesser requirement for rescue medication and better tolerability. Further work needs to be undertaken to characterise the manic patients in terms of their differential psychopharmacologic response profile.