The recent identification of cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous lipid ligands has triggered an exponential growth of studies exploring the endocannabinoid system and its regulatory functions in health and disease. Such studies have been greatly facilitated by the introduction of selective cannabinoid receptor antagonists and inhibitors of endocannabinoid metabolism and transport, as well as mice deficient in cannabinoid receptors or the endocannabinoid-degrading enzyme fatty acid amidohydrolase. In the past decade, the endocannabinoid system has been implicated in a growing number of physiological functions, both in the central and peripheral nervous systems and in peripheral organs. More importantly, modulating the activity of the endocannabinoid system turned out to hold therapeutic promise in a wide range of disparate diseases and pathological conditions, ranging from mood and anxiety disorders, movement disorders such as Parkinson9s and Huntington9s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury, to cancer, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, glaucoma, obesity/metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis, to name just a few. An impediment to the development of cannabinoid medications has been the socially unacceptable psychoactive properties of plant-derived or synthetic agonists, mediated by CB 1 receptors. However, this problem does not arise when the therapeutic aim is achieved by treatment with a CB 1 receptor antagonist, such as in obesity, and may also be absent when the action of endocannabinoids is enhanced indirectly through blocking their metabolism or transport. The use of selective CB 2 receptor agonists, which lack psychoactive properties, could represent another promising avenue for certain conditions. The abuse potential of plant-derived cannabinoids may also be limited through the use of preparations with controlled composition and the careful selection of dose and route of administration. The growing number of preclinical studies and clinical trials with compounds that modulate the endocannabinoid system will probably result in novel therapeutic approaches in a number of diseases for which current treatments do not fully address the patients9 need. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview on the current state of knowledge of the endocannabinoid system as a target of pharmacotherapy.

http://www.phytecs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Pharmacol-Rev-2006-Pacher-389-462.pdf

The Endocannabinoid System as an Emerging Target of Pharmacotherapy

ContextAlcohol dependence treatment may include medications, behavioral therapies, or both. It is unknown how combining these treatments may impact their effectiveness, especially in the context of primary care and other nonspecialty settings.ObjectivesTo evaluate the efficacy of medication, behavioral therapies, and their combinations for treatment of alcohol dependence and to evaluate placebo effect on overall outcome.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsRandomized controlled trial conducted January 2001-January 2004 among 1383 recently alcohol-abstinent volunteers (median age, 44 years) from 11 US academic sites with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, diagnoses of primary alcohol dependence.InterventionsEight groups of patients received medical management with 16 weeks of naltrexone (100 mg/d) or acamprosate (3 g/d), both, and/or both placebos, with or without a combined behavioral intervention (CBI). A ninth group received CBI only (no pills). Patients were also evaluated for up to 1 year after treatment.Main Outcome MeasuresPercent days abstinent from alcohol and time to first heavy drinking day.ResultsAll groups showed substantial reduction in drinking. During treatment, patients receiving naltrexone plus medical management (n = 302), CBI plus medical management and placebos (n = 305), or both naltrexone and CBI plus medical management (n = 309) had higher percent days abstinent (80.6, 79.2, and 77.1, respectively) than the 75.1 in those receiving placebos and medical management only (n = 305), a significant naltrexone × behavioral intervention interaction (P = .009). Naltrexone also reduced risk of a heavy drinking day (hazard ratio, 0.72; 97.5% CI, 0.53-0.98; P = .02) over time, most evident in those receiving medical management but not CBI. Acamprosate showed no significant effect on drinking vs placebo, either by itself or with any combination of naltrexone, CBI, or both. During treatment, those receiving CBI without pills or medical management (n = 157) had lower percent days abstinent (66.6) than those receiving placebo plus medical management alone (n = 153) or placebo plus medical management and CBI (n = 156) (73.8 and 79.8, respectively; P<.001). One year after treatment, these between-group effects were similar but no longer significant.ConclusionsPatients receiving medical management with naltrexone, CBI, or both fared better on drinking outcomes, whereas acamprosate showed no evidence of efficacy, with or without CBI. No combination produced better efficacy than naltrexone or CBI alone in the presence of medical management. Placebo pills and meeting with a health care professional had a positive effect above that of CBI during treatment. Naltrexone with medical management could be delivered in health care settings, thus serving alcohol-dependent patients who might otherwise not receive treatment.Trial Registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00006206

/pdf/combined-pharmacotherapies-and-behavioral-interventions-for-2vogia99j0.pdf

Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence: The COMBINE Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Inhibition and impulsivity: Behavioral and neural basis of response control

http://homepages.se.edu/cvonbergen/files/2013/01/Fifty-Years-of-the-Barratt-Impulsivenss-Scale_An-Update-and-Review.pdf

Fifty years of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale: An update and review

The discovery of cannabinoid receptors and subsequent identification of their endogenous ligands (endocannabinoids) in early 1990s have greatly accelerated research on cannabinoid actions in the br...

Endocannabinoid-Mediated Control of Synaptic Transmission

El objeto de este trabajo es hacer una revision del contenido en grasa dentro de las carnes mas consumidas en Espana, con el fin de corregir errores de interes que actualmente existen sobre la cantidad y calidad lipidica de diferentes carnes; lo que condiciona su consumo de forma significativa

Estudio comparativo de la cantidad y la calidad de la grasa en distintas carnes de consumo habitual

Abstract Recovery from alcohol use disorder involves achieving certain resources for positive lifestyle changes, well-being, and long-term abstinence. The present study aims to translate and validate the Assessment Capital Recovery (ARC) in a Spanish clinical sample of individuals with alcohol use disorder, in abstinence. The participants were 184 patients who attended outpatient treatments. They were evaluated with the adapted version of the ARC (Spanish abbreviation: “Valoración del Capital de Recuperación, VCR”) and by WHOQOL-BREF (quality of life scale), in one session. Statistical analysis included the calculation of reliability, convergent validity (relationship with WHOQOL-BREF), specificity and sensitivity, as well as validity based on internal structure (confirmatory factor analysis). VCR scores show appropriate values for reliability (α = .90), and a low convergent validity with WHOQOL-BREF (Rho = .33–.53). The VCR appears to distinguish between patients with early and stable sobriety (χ2 = 20.55, p < .01). The ROC curve indicates significant discrimination values (p < .05) for stable recovery (5 years of abstinence) and sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 71.2%. Further, confirmatory factor analysis suggests the presence of a single factor, with relatively acceptable values of goodness of fit and factor loadings. We used ULS parameter estimation to study VCR properties, an appropriate tool for assessing recovery in clinical populations of individuals with alcohol use disorder in abstinence.

Spanish Validation of the Assessment of Recovery Capital Scale in Clinical Population with Alcohol Use Disorder

Rationale Local anaesthetics are known to cause commonly adverse reactions, most of them are due to adjoining substances (vasoconstrictors and preservatives). Allergic reactions are rare. Lidocaine is one of the most frequently local anaesthetics used in current medicine. Methods Case report: a 54 year old woman, with an adverse reaction to metamizol, who came to our allergy service for study the reaction with the drug implicated and also to made a pre-anaesthetic assessment before going into a surgery. According our protocol we performed skin prick-test with mepivacain, thiopental, propofol, pancuronium bromide, suxamethonium, lidocaine, diacepam and latex. Patch test with mepivacain, bupivacaine and lidocaine were also carried out. We made drug intramuscularly challenges, with mepivacain 2%, bupivacaine 0,5% and lidocaine 2% and an oral challenge with metamizol. Results All the skin prick test was negative. Six hours after the administration of lidocaine the patient present a pruritic and erythematous cutaneous wheal (10×10 cm) in the local injection area. The rest of the challenges were negative. The patch test with lidocaine was positive at 48 hours and also at 96 hours, with bupivacaine and mepivacain were negative. Eight controls were negative. Conclusions We present a patient with delayed hypersensitivity to lidocaine, demonstrated by patch test and a positive delayed result in the intramuscularly challenge.

Gabriel Rubio

Papers

Estudio comparativo de la cantidad y la calidad de la grasa en distintas carnes de consumo habitual

Spanish Validation of the Assessment of Recovery Capital Scale in Clinical Population with Alcohol Use Disorder

Delayed hipersensitivity to lidocaine

P-1270 - Cytokines levels in schizophrenia patients and in theirs first- degree biological relatives

P.6.c.005 Attentional bias towards cocaine cues using a dot-probe detection task