Introduction. Cannabis (also known as marijuana) is the most frequently used psychoactive substance in the world. The role of cannabis in medicine is rapidly evolving, and advances in the understanding of its pharmacology have led to numerous proposed uses of these drugs.State of the art. Cannabis contains Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol as the primary constituents responsible for pharmacological activity. It is now known that there are at least two types of cannabinoid receptors. CB1 receptors are found mainly in the CNS, and their primary role is to inhibit the release of neurotransmitters. CB2 receptors' leading role is to modulate cytokine release and immune cell migration. Colocalisation of cannabinoid receptors with other types of nervous system receptors allows them to interact with many other transmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline, acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, and glutamic and aspartic acids.Clinical implications. The rapidly expanding understanding regarding cannabinoids led to initial attempts to treat selected diseases with cannabinoid receptor agonists and antagonists. The most promising of these was the potential possibility of treating diseases for which current therapy is unsatisfactory, such as neurological diseases including multiple sclerosis, spastic muscular tension, extrapyramidal system diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cerebral ischaemia. Attempts to treat psychiatric diseases (e.g. psychoses, neuroses, mood disorders, and alcohol dependence syndrome) with cannabinoids are much less advanced.Future directions. Cannabis and cannabinoids can be widely used to treat several diseases or alleviate symptoms, but their efficacy for specific indications is not always apparent. Further exploration is needed to understand whether the enhanced sensitivity to the cognitive effects of Δ9-THC depends on brain cannabinoid receptor dysfunction, and how these changes contribute to the cognitive deterioration and core pathophysiology symptoms associated with schizophrenia or other neurological and somatoform disorders.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate functional catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genetic variation as a risk factor for eating disorders (ED). Method: Eighty women receiving treatment for serious ED (52 for anorexia nervosa, 28 for bulimia nervosa) and 116 age-matched females in the control group underwent COMT genotyping for polymorphism in exon 4 (codon 158). Both the low-activity allele and the high-activity allele (H) were determined. Results: The H/H genotype was twice as frequent in the ED group as in the control group (52.5% in the ED group and 25% in controls, χ2 = 15.5, d.f. = 2, p < 0.001, odds ratio = 3.343). The H/H genotype was found in 57.7% of anorexia nervosa patients (χ2 = 16.860, p < 0.001, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium = 0.003, odds ratio = 4.202). The H allele (val) was discovered in 66.9% of ED patients in comparison to 47.8% of patients from the control group (χ2 = 13.89, p < 0.001, odds ratio = 6.088). In the anorexia group, H allele frequency was enhanced even higher (70.2 vs. 47.8%, χ2 = 14.48, p < 0.001, odds ratio = 8.175). The genotype associations in the subgroup of bulimia patients were not significant, but a trend for a higher frequency of the H allele was found (p = 0.084, odds ratio = 5.309). Conclusions: These findings seem to suggest that a turnover of catecholamines, connected with polymorphism determining high activity of COMT enzyme, is connected with the risk of ED occurrence, particularly anorexia nervosa. The risk is significantly higher for women with an allele of higher activity.
Background: There has been a noticeable and systematic growth of the use of psychoactive substances over the past few decades. Dual diagnosis is a clinical term referring to the occurrence of psychoactive substance use disorder comorbid with another psychiatric disorder in the same person. The most common type of dual diagnosis is the co-occurrence of alcohol use disorder and mood disorders in the form of a depressive episode. Co-occurrent substance use disorders are frequently influenced by genetic factors. In selecting our area of research, we focused on dopamine and the DRD4 (Dopamine Receptor D4) gene polymorphism as well as associations with personality features. The aim of the study: The aim of the study was to compare DRD4 exon 3 (DRD4 Ex3) gene polymorphisms in patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder and co-occurrence of a depressive episode to DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphisms in patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder and without co-occurrence of a depressive episode and a group of healthy volunteers. The study also aimed at establishing associations between personality features and DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphisms of male patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder with co-occurrence of a depressive episode which may present a specific endophenotype of this group of patients. Methods: The study group comprised 602 male volunteers: patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder comorbid with a depressive episode (PUD MDD) (n = 95; mean age = 28.29, standard deviation (SD) = 7.40), patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder (PUD) (n = 206; mean age = 28.13, SD = 5.97), and controls (n = 301; mean age = 22.13, SD = 4.57). The patients and control subjects were diagnosed by a psychiatrist using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaires. An analysis of the DRD4 exon 3 polymorphism was performed. Results: The patients diagnosed with PUD MDD compared to the control group of healthy volunteers showed significantly higher scores on both the STAI status and features scale and the NEO-FFI Neuroticism and Openness Scale, as well as lower scores on the Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness NEO-FFI scales. In the DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphism, the s allele was more frequent in the PUD MDD compared to the l allele, which was less frequent. The results of the 2 × 3 factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) in patients and controls and the variant DRD4 exon 3 interaction were found on the Extraversion Scale and the Conscientiousness Scale of the NEO-FFI. Conclusions: The associations show that psychological factors combined with genetic data create a new area of research on addiction, including the problem of dual diagnosis. However, we want to be careful and draw no definite conclusions at this stage of our research.
The changed activity of the somatotropin-somatomedin, gonadal, and corticotrophin axes corresponds to the clinical stage of AN. Plasma IGF-1 seems to be the most sensitive and useful independent hormonal marker of cachexia.
Background: Research on the hypodopaminergic hypothesis of addictions showed that hypodopaminergic activity in males predicted the number of drugs used and is associated with drug-seeking behavior. Variant alleles may cause hypodopaminergic functioning as a result of the reduced density of dopamine receptors, decreased response to dopamine, increased dopamine clearance or metabolism in the reward system. The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is involved in the metabolism of dopamine. Personality traits may mediate the genetic predisposition to substance use disorders additively by various motivations associated with reward-seeking and regulating negative emotions, and also relate to self-control and environment selection. The aim of the study: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the rs4680 polymorphism of COMT with personality dimensions and anxiety in patients addicted to stimulants other than cocaine (F15 according to WHO ICD-10 nomenclature) in the case of examined patients amphetamine. Methods: The study was conducted among patients addicted to stimulants other than cocaine (amphetamine). The study group included 247 patients addicted to stimulants (amphetamine) and the control group comprised 280 healthy male volunteers. The real-time PCR method was used to carry out genetic tests; personality dimensions were assessed using the standardized NEO-FFI and state and trait anxiety were assessed with STAI. All analyses were performed using STATISTICA 13. Results: The results of the 2 × 3 factorial ANOVA showed a statistically significant effect of the combined factor COMT rs4680 genotype on the group of patients diagnosed with other stimulants dependence/control (F2,252 = 3.11, p = 0.0465, η2 = 0.024). Additionally, we observed that the results of the 2 × 3 factorial ANOVA showed a statistically significant influence of the combined factor COMT rs4680 on the genotype in the group of patients diagnosis with other stimulants dependence/control (F2,252 = 6.16, p = 0.0024, η2 = 0.047). Conclusions: In our research, the polymorphism G/G COMT rs4680 genotype was associated with higher scores of STAI traits and STAI states in the patients dependent on amphetamine. In the control group we observed no such interactions.
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