Substance Abuse Research Research Articles

Ethnic Identity, Empowerment, Social Support and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Black Adolescent Girls: Examining Drug Use as a Mediator.

Substance abuse and sexual health research tends to overlook the resiliency skills that Black adolescent girls possess. Using a strengths-based lens, this study examines the role of protective factors: (e.g. ethnic identity, social support, and psychological empowerment) on sexual risk behaviors testing drug use as a mediator among a sample of Black adolescent girls. The study uses a sample (N = 340) female adolescents (13-17 years old) who identified as being Black only and reside in a northeastern urban community in New Jersey. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized model of the mediating role of drug use on sexual risk behaviors among this sample. Findings revealed that drug use significantly mediated the relationship between social support, ethnic identity, and psychological empowerment on sexual risk behaviors, with high ethnic identity scores having the strongest relationship on low sexual risk behaviors and low levels of drug use. Given the rise of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States among Black adolescent girls, findings from this study can contribute to development of culturally appropriate and innovative strategies to reduce risky behaviors by promoting social and cultural strengths among Black girls living in urban communities.

Bibliometrics of the Global Drug Abuse Research Output as Reflected by Coverage in Web of Science Core Collection during 2011-2018

Bibliometrics of the Global Drug Abuse Research Output as Reflected by Coverage in Web of Science Core Collection during 2011-2018

Bayesian analysis of hidden Markov structural equation models with an unknown number of hidden states

Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are widely used to analyze heterogeneous longitudinal data owing to their capability to model dynamic heterogeneity. Early advancements in HMMs have mainly assumed that the number of hidden states is fixed and predetermined based on the knowledge of the subjects or a certain criterion. However, as a limitation, this approach determines the number of hidden states on a pairwise basis, which becomes increasingly tedious when the state space is enlarged. Moreover, criterion-based statistics tend to select complex models with overestimated numbers of components in mixture modeling. A full Bayesian approach is developed to analyze hidden Markov structural equation models with an unknown number of hidden states. An efficient and hybrid algorithm that combines the reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) algorithm, the forward filtering and backward sampling scheme, and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm is proposed to simultaneously select the number of hidden states and perform parameter estimation. The simulation study shows the satisfactory performance of the proposed method. Two real datasets collected from the UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center and National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are analyzed.

Determining the Concentration of Morphine and Codeine in Poppy Seeds for Drug Test Defense

TRAVIS HARDING, MARK FLOOD, ANDREAS BAUR, and KRISTY HENSON. Department of Natural Sciences, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV, 26554. Determining the Concentration of Morphine and Codeine in Poppy Seeds for Drug Test Defense.The purpose of this research was to determine the concentration of opiates, morphine and codeine, in poppy seeds in effort to combat the “poppy seed defense”. Morphine and codeine are naturally occurring substances belonging to a class of drugs labeled opioid analgesics, commonly known as narcotics. There has been an increase in concerns involving false-positive opiate drug test. Distinguishing between legitimate dietary poppy seed ingestion versus non-prescribed opiate or heroin abuse is important for individuals subject to routine drug testing. Poppy seeds were purchased from supermarkets and were mechanically ground up by either 1) a blender or 2) a mortar and pestle, which best simulates human mastication. The ground up seed products were placed in a solution matrix to simulate a human oral cavity (target concentration of 30 ng/mL). Morphine and codeine concentrations from the samples will be tested using Thin Layer Chromatography, immunoassay (Opiate ELISA), and a validated Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) system. The screening cutoff concentration ranges from 0 ng/mL to 40 ng/mL. Preliminary results from previous constructed experiments showed a positive color change for the opiate assay from blue to yellow within one hour (National Institute on Drug Abuse Research). The average absorbance at a dual wavelength of 450 nm and 650 nm was 1.238 correlating to a morphine concentration of about 5.1 ng/mL. Initial GC-MS results showed morphine and internal standard morphine-D3 had mass to charge ratios of 432 m/z and 429 m/z with an average concentration of 7.5 ng/mL respectively. This research was made possible by NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Training Grant #NNX15AI01H.

The Competence and Willingness to Consent to Research Among Patients with Heroin Dependence.

Substance abuse research can raise ethical concerns about the comprehension and decision-making capacities of participants with drug dependence. In this study, the competence and willingness to consent to research participation were examined among patients with heroin dependence. Twenty patients with heroin dependence and 24 healthy controls were asked to indicate if they would consent to participate in a low- and high-risk study. The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Clinical Research was used to assess their consent capacities. Patients with heroin dependence and healthy controls did not differ significantly in their consent capacity scores. However, the patterns that underlay their decisions to consent and decline to participate in the two fictional studies were significantly different. Specifically, patients with heroin dependence were more likely to consent to participate in both studies, irrespective of the ratio of benefits to risks. Further, patients with heroin dependence who agreed to participate in the research studies did not demonstrate poorer decision-making capacities than their nonconsenting counterparts. Although the decision-making capacities of patients with heroin dependence and healthy controls were similar, the patterns that underlay their decisions to consent or decline to participate in the studies differed significantly between the two groups. Future studies should identify the specific factors that account for these emergent group differences.

Drug Abuse Research Trend Investigation with Text Mining.

Drug abuse poses great physical and psychological harm to humans, thereby attracting scholarly attention. It often requires experience and time for a researcher, just entering this field, to find an appropriate method to study drug abuse issue. It is crucial for researchers to rapidly understand the existing research on a particular topic and be able to propose an effective new research method. Text mining analysis has been widely applied in recent years, and this study integrated the text mining method into a review of drug abuse research. Through searches for keywords related to the drug abuse, all related publications were identified and downloaded from PubMed. After removing the duplicate and incomplete literature, the retained data were imported for analysis through text mining. A total of 19,843 papers were analyzed, and the text mining technique was used to search for keyword and questionnaire types. The results showed the associations between these questionnaires, with the top five being the Addiction Severity Index (16.44%), the Quality of Life survey (5.01%), the Beck Depression Inventory (3.24%), the Addiction Research Center Inventory (2.81%), and the Profile of Mood States (1.10%). Specifically, the Addiction Severity Index was most commonly used in combination with Quality of Life scales. In conclusion, association analysis is useful to extract core knowledge. Researchers can learn and visualize the latest research trend.

Worldwide research output trends on drinking and driving from 1956 to 2015

This study seeks to analyze worldwide research activity on drinking and driving of macro-actors (countries and research fields) and meso-actors (institutions, journals, articles, co-substance(s) studied) during the last 6 decades (between 1956 and 2015). Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus were searched using terms referred to drinking and driving, including terms related to vehicles and way spaces. Overlapping was excluded and absence of false positives was confirmed. Articles on alcohol with/without other psychoactive substances were assessed quantitatively (bibliometric measures). Well identified by All Science Journal Classification system (ASJC) (Elsevier Scopus), an increase in the number of articles through the 6 decades analyzed was observed, from 152 (1956–1965) to 2302 (2006–2015), which represent an average decadal growth rate (ADGR) of 72.21. Among 89 countries, United States of America published 37.62 % out of all the included articles. Nevertheless, institutions from Canada, European Union and Australia published 50 articles or more during 60 years. The publications were mostly welcomed by journals on substance abuse research, and an exponential increase in publications on combined use of alcohol and other driving-impairing substances was observed since the second half of the eighties. This is the first study that attempted an analysis of scientific production of macro- and meso-actors on a topic belonging to an intricate research area. Bibliometric analyses should be considered as an important tool for updating the evidence on the serious problem of driving under the influence (DUI). The awareness of policy makers and the other relevant actors involved in the control of DUI of alcohol and other substances is stressed.

Participatory and Appreciative Action Research in Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Norway’s High North

Participatory and Appreciative Action Research in Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Norway’s High North

Non-canonical Targets Mediating the Action of Drugs of Abuse: Cocaine at the Sigma-1 Receptor as an Example.

In addition to acting on traditionally recognized receptors or transporters on the plasma membrane, several drugs of abuse, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, nicotine, opioid, cocaine, ketamine, and cannabinoid, have been shown to exert their effects by acting on additional molecular targets either on the plasma membrane or inside a cell. These targets are usually nascent receptors or proteins that can cause downstream signaling or molecular events, leading to altered physiological outcomes favoring addictive processes. However, those “non-canonical” targets of drugs of abuse, in general, have not been widely recognized in drug abuse research. This perspective diverts attention to those underrecognized targets, in the hope of promoting a more complete understanding of the action of drugs of abuse.

Neuroproteomics in Paving the Pathway for Drug Abuse Research

Neuroproteomics, as a sub-discipline of proteomics, has enlightened the pathway for the study of different complicated diseases and brain disorders. Since four decades, various analytical and quantitative techniques have been used to cure problems related to brain and memory. Brain has a complex structure with various cells and cell types, the expressing proteins and suppressing factors too. Drug addiction is one of the main health concerns as it causes physiological changes in brain and affects its different parts. Some of these drugs like cocaine, marijuana, nicotine and alcohol not only affect memory and brain cells but also lead to expression and suppression of unwanted and beneficial proteins respectively. A variety of techniques involving separation techniques, quantification techniques and analytical techniques are used along with the combination of bioinformatics and magical tools for analyzing different aspects of brain parts especially proteome of the brain cells. Moreover, different animal models preferably those resembling human beings are routinely used in neuroproteomics to study the effects of different drugs on the brain proteome. Different experiments have already been performed by the researchers on drug abuse that helped massively in estimating not only the effects of drug addiction on the brain of highly complex organisms (human beings) but also to propose different therapeutics.

Sex Differences in the Stages of Cocaine Use Disorder and the Influence of the Mesolimbic Dopamine System

Traditional drug abuse research has primarily focused on male behavior and neurobiology; however, recent work in the field has revealed distinct differences between male and female cocaine responsivity. Specifically, females appear to be more vulnerable to the effects of cocaine, a phenomenon that has been shown to fluctuate with the reproductive cycle in both clinical and preclinical studies. For example, in human studies, women report greater subjective effects of cocaine during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, while in rodent studies, mice and rats exhibit greater cocaine taking behavior and preference during the estrus phase of the estrous cycle. Increased sensitivity to cocaine reward has been shown using many behavioral assays including those used to measure initiation of cocaine use, motivation for drug, extinction, and reinstatement. Increased cocaine taking behavior in females has been manipulated further to study the effects of social interaction, natural reward, exercise, and stress on intravenous cocaine self‐administration. Altogether, sex differences, both between males and females and across the stages of estrous, appear to be mediated by differences in the mesolimbic dopamine system according to recent work implicating dopamine projections from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens core (NAc).Here, intravenous cocaine self‐administration is used to assess drug taking behavior during the stages of drug addiction including initiation of use (acquisition), escalation, motivation, extinction, and reinstatement. Females in estrus showed faster times to acquisition of cocaine self‐administration and greater motivation to self‐administer cocaine using the behavioral economics protocol Threshold. Female cocaine abuse vulnerability further appears to be mediated by underlying neurobiological differences in cocaine taking between sexes and estrous stage. Females in estrus exhibit less synaptogyrin 3 expression in the NAc compared to their non‐estrus counterparts, a significant finding as decreased synaptogyrin expression in the NAc is associated with higher breakpoints in progressive ratio in males and is associated with dopamine transporter function. Furthermore, using ex vivo fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in the NAc, females also exhibit greater dopamine transporter sensitivity to cocaine than males. Overall, these results add to the growing body of literature suggesting that females exhibit greater vulnerability to cocaine use and abuse across the stages of addiction and that these effects are due to an inherent neurobiological difference that this linked to the reproductive cycle and the mesolimbic dopamine system.Support or Funding InformationT32AA007565, P50DA006634This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Choosing Your Platform for Social Media Drug Research and Improving Your Keyword Filter List

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U01DA038360 awarded to the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland, College Park.

DAKB-GPCRs: An Integrated Computational Platform for Drug Abuse Related GPCRs.

Drug abuse (DA) or drug addiction is a complicated brain disorder which is commonly considered as neurobiological impairments caused by both genetic factors and environmental effects. Among DA-related targets, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play an important role in DA therapy. However, only 52 GPCRs have been published with crystal structures in the recent two decades. In the effort to overcome the limitations of crystal structure and conformational diversity of GPCRs, we built homology models and performed conformational searches by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. To accelerate and facilitate the drug abuse research, we construct a DA-related GPCR-specific chemogenomics knowledgebase (KB) (DAKB-GPCRs) for its research that can be implemented with our established and novel chemogenomics tools as well as algorithms for data analysis and visualization. Our established TargetHunter and HTDocking tools, as well as our novel tools that include target classification and Spider Plot, are compiled into the platform. Our DAKB-GPCRs provides the following results for a query compound: (1) blood-brain barrier (BBB) plot via our BBB predictor, (2) docking scores via HTDocking, (3) similarity score via TargetHunter, (4) target classification via machine learning methods that utilize both docking scores and similarity scores, and (5) a drug-target interaction network via Spider Plot.

The Rise and Fall of Kappa-Opioid Receptors in Drug Abuse Research.

Substance use disorders represent a global public health issue. This mental health disorder is hypothesized to result from neurobiological changes as a result of chronic drug exposure and clinically manifests as inappropriate behavioral allocation toward the procurement and use of the abused substance and away from other behaviors maintained by more adaptive nondrug reinforcers (e.g., social relationships, work). The dynorphin/kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) is one receptor system that has been altered following chronic exposure to drugs of abuse (e.g., cocaine, opioids, alcohol) in both laboratory animals and humans, implicating the dynorphin/KOR system in the expression, mechanisms, and treatment of substance use disorders. KOR antagonists have reduced drug self-administration in laboratory animals under certain experimental conditions, but not others. Recently, several human laboratory and clinical trials have evaluated the effectiveness of KOR antagonists as candidate pharmacotherapies for cocaine or tobacco use disorder to test hypotheses generated from preclinical studies. KOR antagonists failed to significantly alter drug use metrics in humans suggesting translational discordance between some preclinical drug self-administration studies and consistent with other preclinical drug self-administration studies that provide concurrent access to an alternative nondrug reinforcer (e.g., food). The implications of this translational discordance and future directions for examining the therapeutic potential of KOR agonists or antagonists as candidate substance use disorder pharmacotherapies are discussed.

Translational Molecular Approaches in Substance Abuse Research.

Excessive abuse of psychoactive substances is one of the leading contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this book chapter, we review translational research strategies that are applied in the pursuit of new and more effective therapeutics for substance use disorder (SUD). The complex, multidimensional nature of psychiatric disorders like SUD presents difficult challenges to investigators. While animal models are critical for outlining the mechanistic relationships between defined behaviors and genetic and/or molecular changes, the heterogeneous pathophysiology of brain diseases is uniquely human, necessitating the use of human studies and translational research schemes. Translational research describes a cross-species approach in which findings from human patient-based data can be used to guide molecular genetic investigations in preclinical animal models in order to delineate the mechanisms of reward circuitry changes in the addicted state. Results from animal studies can then inform clinical investigations toward the development of novel treatments for SUD. Here we describe the strategies that are used to identify and functionally validate genetic variants in the human genome which may contribute to increased risk for SUD, starting from early candidate gene approaches to more recent genome-wide association studies. We will next examine studies aimed at understanding how transcriptional and epigenetic dysregulation in SUD can persistently alter cellular function in the disease state. In our discussion, we then focus on examples from the literature illustrating molecular genetic methodologies that have been applied to studies of different substances of abuse - from alcohol and nicotine to stimulants and opioids - in order to exemplify how these approaches can both delineate the underlying molecular systems driving drug addiction and provide insights into the genetic basis of SUD.

Trends and Issues of Adolescents' Substance Use and Abuse Research in Korea: An Analysis of Journals

Trends and Issues of Adolescents' Substance Use and Abuse Research in Korea: An Analysis of Journals

Evaluation of the Substance Abuse Research and Education Training (SARET) program: Stimulating health professional students to pursue careers in substance use research

Background: We developed and implemented the Substance Abuse Research Education and Training (SARET) program for medical, dental, nursing, and social work students to address the dearth of health professionals pursuing research and careers in substance use disorders (SUD). SARET has 2 main components: (1) a novel online curriculum addressing core SUD research topics, to reach a large number of students; (2) a mentored summer research experience for in-depth exposure. Methods: Modules were integrated into the curricula of the lead institution, and of 5 external schools. We assessed the number of Web modules completed and their effect on students’ interest in SUD research. We also assessed the impact of the mentorship experience on participants’ attitudes and early career trajectories, including current involvement in SUD research. Results: Since 2008, over 24,000 modules have been completed by approximately 9700 individuals. In addition to integration of the modules into curricula at the lead institution, all 5 health-professional partner schools integrated at least 1 module and approximately 5500 modules were completed by individuals outside the lead institution. We found an increase in interest in SUD research after completion of the modules for students in all 4 disciplines. From 2008 to 2015, 76 students completed summer mentorships; 8 students completed year-long mentorships; 13 published in SUD-related journals, 18 presented at national conferences, and 3 are actively engaged in SUD-related research. Mentorship participants reported a positive influence on their attitudes towards SUD-related clinical care, research, and interprofessional collaboration, leading in some cases to changes in career plans. Conclusions: A modular curriculum that stimulates clinical and research interest in SUD can be successfully integrated into medical, dental, nursing, and social work curricula. The SARET program of mentored research participation fostered early research successes and influenced career choice of some participants. Longer-term follow-up will enable us to assess more distal careers of the program.

Toward Increasing Engagement in Substance Use Data Collection: Development of the Substance Abuse Research Assistant App and Protocol for a Microrandomized Trial Using Adolescents and Emerging Adults.

BackgroundSubstance use is an alarming public health issue associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Adolescents and emerging adults are at particularly high risk because substance use typically initiates and peaks during this developmental period. Mobile health apps are a promising data collection and intervention delivery tool for substance-using youth as most teens and young adults own a mobile phone. However, engagement with data collection for most mobile health applications is low, and often, large fractions of users stop providing data after a week of use.ObjectiveSubstance Abuse Research Assistant (SARA) is a mobile application to increase or sustain engagement of substance data collection overtime. SARA provides a variety of engagement strategies to incentivize data collection: a virtual aquarium in the app grows with fish and aquatic resources; occasionally, funny or inspirational contents (eg, memes or text messages) are provided to generate positive emotions. We plan to assess the efficacy of SARA’s engagement strategies over time by conducting a micro-randomized trial, where the engagement strategies will be sequentially manipulated.MethodsWe aim to recruit participants (aged 14-24 years), who report any binge drinking or marijuana use in the past month. Participants are instructed to use SARA for 1 month. During this period, participants are asked to complete one survey and two active tasks every day between 6 pm and midnight. Through the survey, we assess participants’ daily mood, stress levels, loneliness, and hopefulness, while through the active tasks, we measure reaction time and spatial memory. To incentivize and support the data collection, a variety of engagement strategies are used. First, predata collection strategies include the following: (1) at 4 pm, a push notification may be issued with an inspirational message from a contemporary celebrity; or (2) at 6 pm, a push notification may be issued reminding about data collection and incentives. Second, postdata collection strategies include various rewards such as points which can be used to grow a virtual aquarium with fishes and other treasures and modest monetary rewards (up to US $12; US $1 for each 3-day streak); also, participants may receive funny or inspirational content as memes or gifs or visualizations of prior data. During the study, the participants will be randomized every day to receive different engagement strategies. In the primary analysis, we will assess whether issuing 4 pm push-notifications or memes or gifs, respectively, increases self-reporting on the current or the following day.ResultsThe microrandomized trial started on August 21, 2017 and the trial ended on February 28, 2018. Seventy-three participants were recruited. Data analysis is currently underway.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, SARA is the first mobile phone app that systematically manipulates engagement strategies in order to identify the best sequence of strategies that keep participants engaged in data collection. Once the optimal strategies to collect data are identified, future versions of SARA will use this data to provide just-in-time adaptive interventions to reduce substance use among youth.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03255317; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03255317 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/70raGWV0e)Registered Report IdentifierRR1-10.2196/9850

Instrumentation of Psychospiritual Scale for Malaysian Drug Rehabilitation Centres

The significance of spirituality element in one’s life is not to be silenced. The dualistic nature of human be it physical and spiritual seeks for the balance contentment as so one can achieve the tranquility of life and manage to think, feel and act accordingly. The problem of drug abuse that has been happening nowadays is seemed to be plausible to be associated with the lack of spiritual awareness causing them to choose that path. Recognizing the potentiality of spirituality in drug abuse, this paper attempts to explain the instumentation of psychospiritual inventories in drug abuse in light of making it easier for other drug abuse researchers to quantify the level of drug abuser’s spiritual condition. The psychospiritual scale formulated has 6 domains with 39 items altogether by employing 5-Likert Scale. The methodology employed was based on Interpretive Content Analysis with thematic technique to rule out the cardinal principles from the Islamic religious scriptures and literatures. Face validation was adopted and assigned to two experts in Islamic Sufism and drug abuse fields. The reliability of the psychospiritual instrument was cronbach alpha 0.962. Split-half reliability of this scale was divided into two where the first part achieved cronbach alpha 0.943 whereas the second part scored alpha cronbach 0.921. Indeed, this result signifies that this instrument has high reliability values and suitable to be used worldwide.

Up the Ladder of Concern: Youth and Young Adult Cannabis Use

This paper aims to review patterns of cannabis (i.e., marijuana and hashish) use among high-risk Israeli youth and young adults based on research conducted by the Ben-Gurion University, Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center. A total of 1074 Israeli youth (67.0% male, 33.0% female) were studied from 2004 to 2016. The youth and young adults included those placed in residential programs for learning and/or behavior problems (youth villages) and were school dropouts referred to a 90-day treatment facility for drug abuse. Country of origin, determined by mother’s birthplace, revealed 42.4% of the youth was of Israeli origin and 57.6% from other countries—mostly the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. About “village” youth, no gender or religious status (secular/non-secular) differences were found for lifetime and last month cannabis use. Immigrant origin youth, than those with Israeli status, reported more lifetime and last month use as well as cannabis availability. Youth from families with low socio-economics status reported a higher rate of last month cannabis use than those with better economic conditions. Among school dropouts, no gender or religious status differences were found for lifetime and last month cannabis use and availability. For all study youth, binary logistic regression results indicated six factors significantly predicted last month cannabis use: male gender, age, last month binge drinking, illicit drug selling, reduced relations with friends, and cannabis availability. In terms of policy and service provision, high-risk youth (e.g., those in residential programs, whether for learning and/or behavior problems) should be priority for drug prevention efforts.