Addiction Rehab: Amantadine in the Treatment of Pathological Gambling: A Case Report.
Amantadine in the treatment of pathological gambling: a case report.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Front Psychiatry. 2012; 3: 102
Pettorruso M, Martinotti G, Di Nicola M, Onofrj M, Di Giannantonio M, Conte G, Janiri L
Despite almost a decade of intense research, effective treatment strategies for Pathological Gambling (PG) remain very challenging. This paper details a case report suggesting that the treatment of PG may benefit from the use of the non-specific glutamate blocker amantadine. The drug was well-tolerated and effective, leading to a 43-64% reduction in severity of gambling symptoms (as measured with G-SAS). Our result is discussed in the context of the glutamatergic hypothesis of addiction and in light of previous observations on the potential impact of glutamatergic agents in the treatment of PG. The role of the dopaminergic system, and its interaction with the glutamatergic system, is also explored. Further studies are required to define the true benefits of amantadine for the treatment of PG.
HubMed – addiction
Cocaine Sensitization Increases I (h) Current Channel Subunit 2 (HCN (2)) Protein Expression in Structures of the Mesocorticolimbic System.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
J Mol Neurosci. 2012 Dec 1;
Santos-Vera B, Vázquez-Torres R, Marrero HG, Acevedo JM, Arencibia-Albite F, Vélez-Hernández ME, Miranda JD, Jiménez-Rivera CA
Alteration of the biological activity among neuronal components of the mesocorticolimbic (MCL) system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of drug abuse. Changes in the electrophysiological properties of neurons involved in the reward circuit seem to be of utmost importance in addiction. The hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide current, I (h), is a prominent mixed cation current present in neurons. The biophysical properties of the I (h) and its potential modulatory role in cell excitability depend on the expression profile of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide gated channel (HCN) subunits. We investigated whether cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization, an animal model of drug addiction, elicits region-specific changes in the expression of the HCN(2) channel’s subunit in the MCL system. Tissue samples from the ventral tegmental area, prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus were analyzed using Western blot. Our findings demonstrate that cocaine treatment induced a significant increase in the expression profile of the HCN(2) subunit in both its glycosylated and non-glycosylated protein isoforms in all areas tested. The increase in the glycosylated isoform was only observed in the ventral tegmental area. Together, these data suggest that the observed changes in MCL excitability during cocaine addiction might be associated with alterations in the subunit composition of their HCN channels.
HubMed – addiction
Crossing Paths in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma (hRCC).
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Int J Mol Sci. 2012; 13(10): 12710-33
Gallego GA, Villaamil VM, Grande E, Caínzos IS, Aparicio LM
Historically, cell-signaling pathways have been studied as the compilation of isolated elements into a unique cascade that transmits extracellular stimuli to the tumor cell nucleus. Today, growing evidence supports the fact that intracellular drivers of tumor progression do not flow in a single linear pathway, but disseminate into multiple intracellular pathways. An improved understanding of the complexity of cancer depends on the elucidation of the underlying regulatory networks at the cellular and intercellular levels and in their temporal dimension. The high complexity of the intracellular cascades causes the complete inhibition of the growth of one tumor cell to be very unlikely, except in cases in which the so-called “oncogene addiction” is known to be a clear trigger for tumor catastrophe, such as in the case of gastrointestinal stromal tumors or chronic myeloid leukemia. In other words, the separation and isolation of the driver from the passengers is required to improve accuracy in cancer treatment. This review will summarize the signaling pathway crossroads that govern renal cell carcinoma proliferation and the emerging understanding of how these pathways facilitate tumor escape. We outline the available evidence supporting the putative links between different signaling pathways and how they may influence tumor proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, metabolism and invasiveness. The conclusion is that tumor cells may generate their own crossroads/crosstalk among signaling pathways, thereby reducing their dependence on stimulation of their physiologic pathways.
HubMed – addiction
Related Addiction Rehab Information…