Risky behaviors on the road: Do women and men act differently after drinking?

Abstract

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 146 (2015) e34–e117 e105 Risky behaviors on the road: Do women and men act differently after drinking? Tanara R. Sousa1, Graciela Pasa1, Jeffrey Lunnen2, Flavio P. Pechansky1 1 Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil 2 Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States Aims: To compare differences between female andmale drivers regarding select risk factors in two Brazilian cities receiving intervention as part of the Global Road Safety Project. Methods: A knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) survey was conducted among drivers in Palmas and Teresina. In October and November 2013, 1556 face to face interviews were conducted; samplingwasdonebyquotas, according todriver’s sex (70.9%male) and age. Results: The results show that females and males behave differently on the road. Females reported drinking and driving less (41.1% vs. 64.9% – p lofexidine (0.3mg/kg) = clonidine (0.3mg/kg) > guanfacine (1.8mg/kg). In drug discrimination studies, the discriminative stimulus effects of a cocaine-heroin mixture were not significantly altered by doses of brimonidine, guanfacine or clonidine below those that produced sedative effects and decreased operant responding to 50% decrease in the intake of cocaine/heroin mixtures without consistent modulation of their reinforcing strength. Conclusions: These data indicate that doses of alpha-2 agonists with behavioral side-effects that diminish over repeated treatment may be useful for in the management of polydrug (cocaine/heroin) addiction. Financial Support: (supported by DA 031299) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.09.653 Differential effects of the benzodiazepines alprazolam and oxazepam on methamphetamine-related behaviors in rats Allyson Spence, Glenn F. Guerin, Nicholas E. Goeders Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, LSU Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA, United States Aims:Drugusers often combinebenzodiazepineswithpsychostimulants, such as methamphetamine (METH). Previous research has shown that not all benzo-diazepines have the same potential for abuse.While alprazolam (ALP) is highly preferred by drug users, oxazepam (OX) has a far lower abuse potential. We hypothesized thatMETHwould induce conditioned place preference (CPP), while OX and ALP would block the METH-induced CPP. We hypothesized that OX and ALP would attenuate METH discrimination. Methods: CPP was conducted to study the reward potential of the benzodiaz-epines OX and ALP when combined with METH to simulate polydrug abuse in rats (n=8/group). To determine if ALP and/orOXwouldalter the subjective effects ofMETH,wealso investigated the effects of these drugs on the discriminative stimulus effects of METH in rats (n=7/group). Rats were trained to discriminate METH (1.0mg/kg, ip) from saline using a two-lever operant, food-reinforced, drug discrimination design. The effects of ALP (2 and 4mg/kg, ip) and OX (5, 10, and 20mg/kg, ip) on METH discriminationwere determined by administering these drugs prior to variousdoses ofMETH (0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, or 2mg/kg, ip) and then measuringwhether the rat pressed theMETHor saline-associated lever. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results: METH produced a CPP, and OX blocked this METHinduced CPP. However, ALP did not block the METH-induced CPP. OX significantly attenuatedMETH discrimination in rats. However, we found that thehighdoseofALPaugmented the subjectiveeffects of lower doses of METH. Conclusions: The results of these experiments suggest that OX and ALP can differentially affect meth-related behaviors. OX attenuates the rewarding properties as well as the subjective effects of METH, while ALP may actually increase the rewarding properties of lower doses of METH. Future research will aim to identify the