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Nabilone is a synthetic cannabinoid that has shown promise for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)–related insomnia and nightmares as well as efficacy in the management of chronic pain. It has also been proposed for harm reduction in cannabis dependence. Its effectiveness for management of concurrent disorders in seriously mentally ill correctional populations has not been evaluated. This retrospective study of 104 male inmates with serious mental illness prescribed nabilone analyzes the indications, efficacy, and safety of its use. Medications discontinued with the initiation of nabilone were also reviewed. The results showed nabilone targeting a mean of 3.5 indications per patient, thus likely reducing polypharmacy risk. The mean final dosage was 4.0 mg. Results indicated significant improvement in PTSD-associated insomnia, nightmares, PTSD symptoms, and Global Assessment of Functioning and subjective improvement in chronic pain. Medications associated with greater risk for adverse effects or abuse than nabilone were often able to be discontinued with the initiation of nabilone, most often antipsychotics and sedative/hypnotics. There was no evidence of abuse within this high-risk population or reduction of efficacy when nabilone was given in powder form with water rather than as a capsule. This study supports the promise of nabilone as a safe, effective treatment for concurrent disorders in seriously mentally ill correctional populations. Prospective, randomized controlled trials are required to confirm our preliminary results. Follow-up in the community will be required to confirm effectiveness in harm reduction.

The ability of developing rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss embryos to compensate for elevated oocyte triiodothyronine (T 3 ) content and whether elevation of oocyte T 3 content within a physiologically meaningful range affects growth rates of the embryo or the expression of genes encoding for thyroid hormone receptors a (TRa) and b (TRb) were examined. Oocytes were immersed in ovarian fluid alone (control) or T 3 -enriched ovarian fluid prior to fertilization and water hardening, to induce a dose-dependant increase in oocyte T 3 content of c. 3 (control), c. 30 (LT 3 ) or c. 110 ng egg À1 (HT 3 ). To examine the interaction of embryo somatic growth with altered thyroid state more effectively, the embryos were reared at two ambient temperatures (8Á5 and 5Á5 C ) to induce different growth rates. A significant decline in whole embryo T 3 content was measured in the T 3 -treatment groups reared at both water temperatures by 3 weeks post-fertilization (dpf), and may have reflected the action of outer ring monodeiodinase, which was present in microsomes prepared from embryos 23 dpf. Whole embryo T 3 levels in the HT 3 group, however, remained higher than controls until phase 2 of development [the onset of endogenous thyroid hormone (TH) release]. This suggested that the embryos exerted some control over their response to exogenous TH, but that there was a limit to the level of control exerted by the embryonic tissues. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed the presence of mRNA encoding for the two TR isoforms as early as 26 dpf, and quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) was used to examine the effect of elevated oocyte T 3 content on the expression of these TR genes in embryos raised at 8Á5 and 5Á5 C, and sampled at similar developmental stages prior to the onset of embryonic TH synthesis, to ensure that the oocyte T 3 was the only source of TH exposure to the embryo. There was a suppression of the TRa gene expression in the control 5Á5 C group relative to the control 8Á5 C group. In addition, both TRa and TRb mRNA accumulation was lower, relative to the controls, in the LT 3 treatment group reared at 8Á5 C suggesting a suppressive effect of the lower level of T 3 treatment on the TR gene expression. Conversely, there were no differences from controls in the HT 3 treatment group, possibly indicating that this level of exposure overrides the downregulating capacity of the embryo. Similar patterns were seen for TRa and TRb mRNA accumulation in embryos reared at 5Á5 C, but because of the temperature suppressed level of TRa mRNA in the controls, significant affects of the LT 3 treatment were only found for TRb. There were no measurable effects of T 3 treatment on oocyte fertility or embryo somatic growth for either temperature treatment group, nor was somatic growth hormone content (measured only in the 8Á5 C treatment group) apparently related to in ovo T 3 levels. The results suggest †Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) migrate to seawater every summer for feeding and spend the rest of the year overwintering in fresh water. We investigated whether annual seawater migration is preceded by changes in hyposmoregulatory capacity, intermediary metabolism, and the plasma levels of hormones known to play a role in salmonid seawater preadaptation (smoltification). Wild, anadromous Arctic char were sampled in their overwintering lake in April and May and during the period of downstream migration in June. Our results demonstrate a fourfold seasonal increase in gill Na+/K+ ATPase activity, with maximum levels in descending migrants that also displayed prime hyposmoregulatory capacity. Hepatosomatic index and activities of key liver enzymes also increased during spring, indicating a general increase in liver metabolic capacity. These changes were accompanied by increased plasma cortisol and thyroxine levels, decreased plasma growth hormone levels, and unchanged plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-I and 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine. Our results indicate that wild, anadromous Arctic char resmoltify every spring, and this involves a shift from an energy-conserving overwintering state to a state where they become osmotically and metabolically prepared for their annual feeding migration to seawater.

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Sexually immature Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus), were fed one of five isoenergetic practical diets of differing lipid:protein ratios (0.98, 0.67, 0.41, 0.26, 0.19) for an 84-day period to examine the influence of diet composition on growth, and growth hormone (GH) and thyroid hormone physiology. All five diets supported growth at approximately the same rate, but the diet with a lipid: protein ratio of 0.98 had the lowest weight gain and highest food conversion ratios. A GH enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), developed for use with oncorhynchid fishes, was validated for use with Arctic charr. Plasma GH concentrations were significantly higher in fish fed the diet with a lipid:protein ratio of 0.98, and there were significant direct and inverse correlations between plasma GH levels and dietary lipid and protein content respectively. There were no significant differences in pre-and post-prandial plasma GH concentrations for any group. There were significant post-prandial elevations of plasma triiodothyronine (T 3 ) and thyroxine (T 4 ) for fish fed the lower lipid:protein ratio diets, but there were no differences related to the diets. The results are discussed in terms of GH as a factor in the regulation of lipid and protein homeostasis in fishes.