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Drugs Decreased (drug + decreased)
Selected AbstractsSupply control and harm reduction: lessons from the Australian heroin ,drought'ADDICTION, Issue 1 2003Don Weatherburn ABSTRACT Aims, To examine the effects of supply-side drug law enforcement on the dynamics of the Australian heroin market and the harms associated with heroin. Setting, Around Christmas 2000, heroin users in Sydney and other large capital cities in Australia began reporting sudden and significant reductions in the availability of heroin. The changes, which appear to have been caused at least in part by drug law enforcement, provided a rare opportunity to examine the potential impact of such enforcement on the harm associated with heroin. Design, Data were drawn from a survey of 165 heroin users in South-Western Sydney, Australia; from the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project; from NSW Health records of heroin overdoses; and from the Computerized Operational Policing System (COPS) database. Findings, Heroin price increased, while purity, consumption and expenditure on the drug decreased as a result of the shortage. The fall in overall heroin use was accompanied by a significant reduction in the rate of overdose in NSW. However, the health benefits associated with the fall in overdose may have been offset by an increase in the use of other drugs (mainly cocaine) since the onset of the heroin shortage. There does not appear to have been any enduring impact on crime rates as a result of the heroin ,drought'. Conclusion, Supply control has an important part to play in harm reduction; however, proponents of supply-side drug law enforcement need to be mindful of the unintended adverse consequences that might flow from successfully disrupting the market for a particular illegal drug. [source] Predicting solubility in multiple nonpolar drugs,cyclodextrin systemJOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 11 2002Luwei Zhao Abstract This study presents a model to predict the solubility of a nonpolar drug DA in the presence of other nonpolar drugs D1,Dn in a complexing ligand L system such as hydroxypropyl-,-cyclodextrin (HP,CD). Using an equilibrium approach, the model describes the molecular interactions among these drug species and the ligand. The model indicates that the solubility of DA invariably decreases as a result of the presence of D1,Dn. Furthermore, the decrease in DA solubility is related to the sum of the products of the intrinsic solubilities of the other drugs and drug,ligand complexation constants. To test the model, three steroids (prednisolone, 17,-hydroxyprogesterone, and progesterone) were used as model compounds in HP,CD solutions. The experimental data showed that the solubility of any particular drug decreased in the presence of other drugs. At all tested HP,CD concentrations, these experimental solubility data were in good agreement with the predicted solubility data. This result lends strong support to the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed model. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association J Pharm Sci 91:2301,2306, 2002 [source] Functional importance of the actin cytoskeleton in contraction of bovine iris sphincter muscleAUTONOMIC & AUTACOID PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 3 2002J. A. C. Filipe Summary 1 The contractile capacity of smooth muscle cells depends on the cytoskeletal framework of the cell. The aim of this study was to determine the functional importance of both the actin and the tubulin components of the cytoskeleton in contractile responses of the bovine isolated iris sphincter muscle. 2 In each preparation, two contractions to the muscarinic agonist carbachol were obtained. The maximum responses of the first contractions were taken as 100%. The second contractions to carbachol were elicited in the presence of either cytochalasin B (50 and 5 ,m), an inhibitor of the actin cytoskeleton, or colchicine (100 ,m), an inhibitor of the tubulin cytoskeleton (30 min incubation). 3 Cytochalasin B, at a concentration of 50 ,m, significantly decreased the contractions induced by carbachol, with the maximum response reduced to 21.8 ± 6.6% (n = 12) of the initial maximum. The maximal contractions to carbachol in the presence of colchicine reached 96.2 ± 7.9% (n = 9) of the initial contraction, which was not significantly different from control second responses to carbachol with neither drug present, which reached 113.3 ± 7.6% (n = 7). 4 The effect of cytochalasin B was dose-dependent, since at a lower concentration of 5 ,m, the drug decreased the maximum contraction to carbachol to 60.3 ± 8.8% (n = 6). The effect of cytochalasin B was at least partially reversible, since after the use of the higher concentration of 50 ,m, contractions to carbachol increased to 62.3 ± 15.5% (n = 4) of the maximal response, after 1 h repeated washing of the preparations. 5 Cytochalasin D, at a concentration of 50 ,m, completely abolished the contractions induced by carbachol (n = 4). 6 These findings suggest that in bovine iris sphincter muscle, contractions to carbachol are highly dependent, from a functional point of view, on actin polymerization, and not, to any important degree, on the polymerization of tubulin. [source] Are we becoming more alike?DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 5 20082004 national household surveys, Comparison of substance use in Australia, the United States as seen in the 199 Abstract Introduction. This paper reports the results of the 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004 Australian and US household surveys, with emphasis on changes since 2001. Design and Methods. The US survey data were recalculated to match age groups in the Australian data. Statistically significant changes are reported. Differences in prevalence of use by gender within age group were tested for significance. Results. The past-year use of ,any illicit drug', cannabis, cocaine, tranquillisers and injecting drugs decreased between 2001 and 2004 in Australia, but remained stable for all these drugs except ecstasy between 2002 and 2004 in the United States. The use of hallucinogens decreased in both countries. Alcohol and use of many illicit drugs by teenage girls in both countries increased to rates similar to or higher than boys, and teens in both countries reported binge and heavy drinking in the past month. Australians in their 20s had the highest rates of use, but in the United States, past-year use of many drugs was highest among teenagers. Discussion. More treatment services are needed, particularly for people dependent upon non-opiate drugs. The changes in acceptability of use of different drugs and their perceived availability are related to changes in prevalence rates. Even with the similarities in levels of use, there are differences in patterns of use and preferences for certain drugs in each country, and geographic proximity to drug sources is a factor. [source] Dextropropoxyphene withdrawal from a French university hospital: impact on analgesic drug consumptionFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Sabine Gaubert Abstract Dextropropoxyphene is a weak opioid analgesic, widely used as a step 2 analgesic (according to WHO classification) in combination with peripheral analgesics, mainly paracetamol. Recent data have underlined its poor analgesic efficacy (in comparison with paracetamol), risks of serious adverse drug reactions (i.e. hepatic reactions, hallucinations, abuse, withdrawal symptoms, hypoglycaemia), possible lethality after overdose, its risk of accumulation in patients with renal failure or in elderly people and some pharmacokinetic insufficiencies (i.e. different half-lives for dextropropoxyphene and paracetamol). Taking into account these data, the drug committee of the Toulouse University Hospital (France) decided to withdraw dextropropoxyphene from the hospital formulary since 1 June 2005. The aim of our study was to investigate the consequences of this withdrawal by comparing use of analgesic drugs in Toulouse University Hospital before (2004) and after (2006) dextropropoxyphene withdrawal (using defined daily dose for 1000 hospitalization-days as the unit measure). Before withdrawal, dextropropoxyphene (in combination with paracetamol) was the second most used analgesic drug after paracetamol alone. After dextropropoxyphene withdrawal, total consumption of analgesic drugs decreased by 4.6% (2006 vs. 2004). There was a 28% decrease in consumption of step 2 analgesics [with an increase in oral tramadol and a slight decrease in codeine (in combination with paracetamol)]. During the same period, step 1 analgesic consumption increased by 11% (mainly paracetamol) and that of step 3 analgesics slightly decreased (,8%). These results show that dextropropoxyphene withdrawal was not associated with a marked switch in prescriptions towards other analgesic drugs. This paper underlines the interest of a hospital-based drug committee to promote rational drug use. Finally, the present data allow us to discuss putative misuse of dextropropoxyphene. [source] Pharmacoeconomics of Gastrointestinal Drug Utilisation Prior and Post Helicobacter pylori EradicationHELICOBACTER, Issue 1 2004Rogier M. Klok ABSTRACT Background., Eradication of Helicobacter pylori prevents recurrence of peptic ulcer. In pharmacoeconomic analyses it is often presumed that after successful eradication no more gastrointestinal drugs are used. We investigated this presumed positive monetary effect using General Practitioners prescribing data, including information in diagnosis. Methods., From the RNG-database we identified patients with a H. pylori eradication in the years 1997,2000. H. pylori eradication was defined as a prescription of two antibiotics and one gastrointestinal drug on the same day. Patients were divided into a group with diagnosed ulcers and a group without diagnosed ulcers. Gastrointestinal drug costs were calculated for 4 months prior to eradication and 9,12 months post eradication. For comparison costs in all periods were expressed per patient per period. For statistical analysis the paired t -test was used. Results., One hundred and two patients were eligible for evaluation. Of these patients 35 had a diagnosed ulcer and 67 had not. Generally the number of patients on gastrointestinal drugs decreased (61% prior vs. 33% post), however, the drug costs did not change (,33 prior vs. ,34 post). Costs for proton pump inhibitors increased post eradication (,14 prior vs. ,28 post). The ulcer and nonulcer group showed similar results. Conclusion.,Helicobacter pylori eradication is thought to be cost effective, however, we did not find a decrease in costs for all gastrointestinal drugs. There may be a great pharmacoeconomical advantage when it is possible to predict which patients are more likely to ,fail' eradication therapy. [source] Comparison of Analgesic Effects of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Extract, D-Amphetamine and Ibuprofen in MiceJOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY: AN INTERNATI ONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2000JOHN CONNOR We have compared the analgesic properties of khat (Catha edulis Forsk) extract, amphetamine and ibuprofen in mice. After intragastric administration of the drugs analgesia was measured relative to water-injected controls using the hot-plate, the tail-flick, and abdominal-constriction tests. At the highest doses examined (amphetamine 1.8 mg kg,1, ibuprofen 90 mg kg,1, khat extract 1800 mg kg,1), all three substances produced analgesia, but the order of efficacy varied with the test. Khat and ibuprofen were significantly different from the control in the hot-plate assay at three or more time points post-injection. In the tail-flick test, khat and amphetamine were efficacious; ibuprofen means were somewhat lower but still significantly different from control. Higher doses of the drugs decreased the number of responses in the acetic acid-induced abdominal-constriction assay. We conclude that khat, like amphetamine and ibuprofen, can relieve pain. Differences in assay results may reflect differences in modes and sites of action, as well as in the type of pain generated by the chemical and thermal stimuli for nociception. [source] | ||||||||||