Who Do You Think Is in Control in Addiction? a Pilot Study on Drug-Related Locus of Control Beliefs.

Who Do You Think Is in Control in Addiction? A Pilot Study on Drug-related Locus of Control Beliefs.

Addict Disord Their Treat. 2012 Dec; 11(4): 173-223
Ersche KD, Turton AJ, Croudace T, Stochl J

The drug-related locus of control scale (DR-LOC) is a new instrument for assessing a person’s belief of “being in control” in situations involving drug abuse. It consists of 16-item pairs presented in a forced-choice format, based on the conceptual model outlined by Rotter. The model characterizes the extent to which a person believes that the outcome of an event is under their personal control (internal locus of control) or the influence of external circumstances (external locus of control).A total of 592 volunteers completed the DR-LOC and the Rotter’s I-E scale. Approximately half of the respondents were enrolled in a drug treatment program for opiates, stimulants and/or alcohol dependence (n = 282), and the remainder (n = 310) had no history of drug dependence.Factor analysis of DR-LOC items revealed 2 factors reflecting control beliefs regarding (i) the successful recovery from addiction, and (ii) decisions to use drugs. The extent to which a person attributes control in drug-related situations is significantly influenced by their personal or professional experiences with drug addiction. Drug-dependent individuals have a greater internal sense of control with regard to addiction recovery or drug-taking behaviors than health professionals and/or non-dependent control volunteers.The DR-LOC has shown to effectively translate generalized expectancies of control into a measure of control expectancies for drug-related situations, making it more sensitive for drug-dependent individuals than Rotter’s I-E scale. Further research is needed to demonstrate its performance at discriminating between heterogeneous clinical groups such as between treatment-seeking versus non-treatment-seeking drug users. HubMed – addiction

?CaMKII Autophosphorylation Controls the Establishment of Alcohol Drinking Behaviour.

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2013 Mar 4;
Easton AC, Lucchesi W, Lourdusamy A, Lenz B, Solati J, Golub Y, Lewczuk P, Fernandes C, Desrivieres S, Dawirs RR, Moll GH, Kornhuber J, Frank J, Hoffmann P, Soyka M, Kiefer F, , Schumann G, Peter Giese K, Müller CP

Alpha Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (?CaMKII) is a crucial enzyme controlling plasticity in the brain. The autophosphorylation of ?CaMKII works as a ‘molecular memory’ for a transient calcium activation, thereby accelerating learning. We investigated the role of ?CaMKII autophosphorylation in the establishment of alcohol drinking as an addiction-related behavior in mice. We found that alcohol drinking was initially diminished in ?CaMKII autophosphorylation deficient ?CaMKIIT286A mice, but could be established at wild-type level after repeated withdrawals. The locomotor activating effects of a low dose alcohol (2?g/kg) were absent in ?CaMKIIT286A mice, while the sedating effects of high dose (3.5?g/kg) were preserved, after acute and subchronic administration. In-vivo microdialysis revealed that ?CaMKIIT286A mice showed no dopamine (DA) response in the nucleus accumbens to acute or subchronic alcohol administration, but enhanced serotonin (5-HT) responses in the prefrontal cortex. The attenuated DA response in ?CaMKIIT286A mice was in line with altered c-Fos activation in the ventral tegmental area after acute and subchronic alcohol administration. In order to compare findings in mice with the human condition, we tested 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CAMK2A for their association with alcohol dependence in a population of 1333 male patients with severe alcohol dependence and 939 controls. We found seven significant associations between CAMK2A SNPs and alcohol dependence, one of which in an autophosphorylation-related area of the gene. Together, our data suggest ?CaMKII autophosphorylation as a facilitating mechanism in the establishment of alcohol drinking behavior with changing the DA-5-HT balance as a putative mechanism.Neuropsychopharmacology accepted article preview online, 4 March 2013; doi:10.1038/npp.2013.60. HubMed – addiction

[Mood States in outpatients with lesional epilepsy at the neurosurgical clinic and improvement in mood States after lamotrigine addiction].

No Shinkei Geka. 2013 Mar; 41(3): 209-18
Kajita Y, Yoshida K, Nagai T, Wakabayashi T

People with epilepsy have a high incidence of mood disorders that may affect their quality of life. Lamotrigine(LTG)is one of the antiepileptic drugs that are commercially available in Japan these days and its mood-stabilizing qualities were well known. First, 66 outpatients with epilepsy were evaluated for changes in mood states by the Profile of Mood States(POMS)and the Japanese-edition Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition(BDI-II)on self report. The POMS questionnaire includes 30 items that address six components of mood. At baseline, one third of the outpatients with epilepsy had mood problems compared by POMS health reference. The mean BDI-II baseline score was 14.9±10.1, and one third of these epilepsy patients exhibited moderate or severe depression. Second, in the twelve patients with epilepsy, LTG was added to other antiepileptic drugs, and the POMS and BDI-II were administered at baseline and after addiction to LTG. 4 out of 8(50%)patients with simple partial seizure and 5 out of 8(62.5%)patients after the adjunctive therapy experienced at least a 50% reduction in the number of seizures compared with the self-reported baseline before the adjunctive therapy. The component scores of Depression-Dejection, Anger-Hostility and Confusion-Bewilderment in POMS were statistically improved in these patients completing adjunctive LTG(pared t-test, p<0.05). In these patients, the mean BDI-II baseline score was 25.8±13.1. Following administration of LTG, there was a significant decrease in the mean BDI-II scores(15.0±6.6)between baseline and the end of adjunctive LTG. This study suggests that, in addition to seizure control, LTG may have a mood-stabilizing effect and improve the quality of life in patients with epilepsy. HubMed – addiction

The genome-wide supported microRNA-137 variant predicts phenotypic heterogeneity within schizophrenia.

Mol Psychiatry. 2013 Mar 5;
Lett TA, Chakavarty MM, Felsky D, Brandl EJ, Tiwari AK, Gonçalves VF, Rajji TK, Daskalakis ZJ, Meltzer HY, Lieberman JA, Lerch JP, Mulsant BH, Kennedy JL, Voineskos AN

We examined the influence of the genome-wide significant schizophrenia risk variant rs1625579 near the microRNA (miRNA)-137 (MIR137) gene on well-established sources of phenotypic variability in schizophrenia: age-at-onset of psychosis and brain structure. We found that the MIR137 risk genotype strongly predicts an earlier age-at-onset of psychosis across four independently collected samples of patients with schizophrenia (n=510; F1,506=17.7, P=3.1 × 10-5). In an imaging-genetics subsample that included additional matched controls (n=213), patients with schizophrenia who had the MIR137 risk genotype had reduced white matter integrity (F3,209=13.6, P=3.88 × 10-8) throughout the brain as well as smaller hippocampi and larger lateral ventricles; the brain structure of patients who were carriers of the protective allele was no different from healthy control subjects on these neuroimaging measures. Our findings suggest that MIR137 substantially influences variation in phenotypes that are thought to have an important role in clinical outcome and treatment response. Finally, the possible consequences of genetic risk factors may be distinct in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 5 March 2013; doi:10.1038/mp.2013.17. HubMed – addiction