NIDA research monograph
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The present study examined the role of endogenous opioid peptides in the pathophysiological sequelae of fluid percussion head injury in the cat. Two hours following injury, tissue concentrations of dynorphin-like immunoreactive material (ir-Dyn) were significantly elevated in specific brain regions where injury, as evidenced by histological examination, was most severe. Changes in ir-Dyn but not beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive material (ir-End) were significantly correlated with a fall in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) that occurred 2 h following injury. Administration of the opiate antagonist WIN44,441-3 (with enhanced activity at kappa-receptors) stereospecifically increased cerebral blood flow to the injured regions.
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NIDA research monograph · Jan 1985
Heroin incidence: a trend comparison between National Household Survey data and indicator data.
Because of the small proportion of the population reporting ever having used heroin, the year of first use data from NIDA's National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse conducted in 1977, 1979, and 1982 were pooled to show the number of new users in the household population by year of first use. In addition, the data were "smoothed" by using a 2-year moving average. The early 1970s and the mid-1970s epidemics were evident. ⋯ Trends in indicators of heroin epidemics were compared with trends based on self-report data from the National Household Surveys. The trends in hepatitis B cases, heroin-related emergency room visits, heroin-related deaths, and the average retail heroin purity were consistent with the epidemic periods suggested by the household data. This consistency among the three sources of self-reported data on trends in year of first heroin use combined with the consistency of these self-reported data with the trends based on the indicators of heroin epidemics offers some validation to the use of retrospective direct questions concerning age of first use of heroin to monitor heroin incidence in the household population.
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NIDA research monograph · Mar 1984
Methadone plasma levels and persistent drug abuse in high dose maintenance patients.
Methadone maintenance patients who maintained on a high daily dose were divided into good performers and poor performers based on whether they demonstrated persistent use of heroin, non-prescription diazepam, and/or excessive alcohol consumption. Mean methadone plasma levels 24 hours after an oral dose of 80 mg were found to be 410.4 ng/ml in good performers compared to 101.8 ng/ml in poor performers (P less than .05). Seven of nine (77.8%) poor compared to two of 15 (13.3%) good performers had 24-hour methadone plasma levels under 50 ng/ml (P less than .01). High dose methadone patients who show evidence of persistent drug or alcohol abuse should have their 24-hour methadone plasma level determined to help assess whether the patient should receive more methadone or find an alternative treatment.