AIM To investigate differences in alcohol and drug consumption behaviours and related problems among users of cocaine powder versus crack cocaine. METHODS The sample of concurrent users of alcohol and cocaine (n = 102) was recruited from clinical and community (non-clinical) settings in London. Those recruited in the community were contacted by means of snowball sampling methods. Data were co...

OBJECTIVE Cocaine consumption is a risk factor for vascular ischemic complications. Although endothelial dysfunction and accelerated atherosclerosis have been observed in cocaine consumers, the mechanisms underlying their pathogenesis are not fully understood. This study aimed at identifying the effects of atorvastatin in relation to a proadhesive and prothrombotic phenotype induced by cocaine ...

BACKGROUND Cocaine use continues to be a public health problem, yet there is no proven effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. A promising approach to treating cocaine dependence may be agonist-replacement therapy, which is already used effectively in the treatment of opioid and tobacco dependence. The replacement approach for cocaine dependence posits that administration of a long-ac...

Cocaine-induced acute hypertension is mediated largely by increased central sympathetic nerve activity. We hypothesized that dexmedetomidine, a central sympatholytic, reverses cocaine-induced increases in sympathetic nerve activity, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) in cocaine-addicted subjects. First, we conducted a dose-finding study in 15 nontreatment-seeking cocaine-addicted...

The Akt - GSK3 signaling pathway has been recently implicated in psychostimulant-induced behavioral and cellular effects. Here, the ability of cocaine to regulate the activity of Akt and GSK3 was investigated by measuring the phosphorylation states of the two kinases. The anatomical specificity of the response was determined, as was the contributions of dopamine and NMDA receptors to the action...

This monograph is based on papers presented at a technical review of patterns of cocaine use in the United States which was held in 1984. The foreword by Jerome H. Jaffe acknowledges that, over the past 10 years, cocaine has become a major public health threat in this country. Papers contained in this monograph include: (1) "Cocaine Use in America: Introduction and Overview" by Edgar H. Adams a...

Cocaine is a nonselective monoamine reuptake inhibitor that is widely abused. Useful pharmacotherapies for cocaine dependence may include substitution medications that produce cocaine-like effects but have a slower onset and longer duration of action. Accordingly, the present study examined the effects of the long-acting, nonselective monoamine reuptake inhibitor indatraline in assays of cocain...

Monoamine releasers constitute one class of candidate medications for the treatment of cocaine abuse, and concurrent cocaine-versus-food choice procedures are potentially valuable as experimental tools to evaluate the efficacy and safety of candidate medications. This study assessed the choice between cocaine and food by rhesus monkeys during treatment with five monoamine releasers that varied ...

In cocaine-dependent patients, gray matter (GM) volume reductions have been observed in the frontal lobes that are associated with the duration of cocaine use. Studies are mostly restricted to treatment-seekers and studies in non-treatment-seeking cocaine abusers are sparse. Here, we assessed GM volume differences between 30 non-treatment-seeking cocaine-dependent individuals and 33 non-drug us...

Previous studies have indicated a role of serotonin (5-HT)2 receptors in modulation of the behavioral effects of cocaine. In the present study, the efficacy of SR 46349B (a 5-HT(2A) receptor antagonist) or SDZ SER-082 (a 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist) in altering cocaine seeking behavior was examined in rats. Rats were trained to press a lever for cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/infusion, iv) paired with the...