The twenty-first century started with the Big Bang—the first ever sequencing of the human genome in 2000/2003 (Lander et al., 2001; Venter, 2003), and since then our scientific Universe started to expand with the speed of light. This year (2012) the Supernova exploded—the Encode project, a series of thirty papers, trashed the “junk DNA” concept. The project indicates that the vast majority (99%...

The hyperpolarization-activated cyclic-nucleotide-gated non-selective cation (HCN) channels play a vital role in the neurological basis underlying nervous system diseases. However, the role of HCN channels in drug addiction is not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the expression of HCN1 and HCN2 subunits in hippocampal CA1 and the potential molecular mechanisms underlying ...

Depression is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric comorbidities associated with opiate addiction. Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and MAPK phosphatase (MKP) are involved in drug addiction and depression. However, the potential role of MAPK and MKP in depression caused by morphine withdrawal remains unclear. We utilized a mouse model of repeated morphine administration to examine t...

We have studied a possible role for cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase in mediating opiate addiction in the central nervous system by focusing on the rat locus coeruleus. This brain region is well suited for these studies because it is relatively homogeneous and because a wealth of electrophysiological and behavioral data indicate that it plays an important role in mediating the chronic effect...

INTRODUCTION We hypothesized that inappropriate attention during the period of abstinence in individuals with substance use disorder can result in an inadequate perception of emotion and unsuitable reaction to emotional scenes. The main aim of this research was to evaluate the attentional bias towards emotional images in former substance abusers and compare it to healthy adults. METHODS Paire...

OBJECTIVE To assess the nursing knowledge of acute pain management in a tertiary hospital. METHODS Three hundred closed-answer questionnaires were distributed in various hospital departments at King Khalid National Guard Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2007. Three main topics were tested in the questionnaire; nursing opinion on patient self-report of pain as a main indicator of pain inten...

Nalbuphine hydrochloride is an opioid agonist-antagonist that has gained acceptance as a pre-hospital analgesic agent. Nalbuphine has equal analgesic properties to morphine, has a low addiction potential, and can be stored and administered without restrictions, unlike morphine. To date no clinical evidence has been published to support the theoretical difficulty that the action of opioids admin...

Opioid addiction is classified as a Substance Use Disorder (SUD), complex and chronic health condition with physical, social, psychological consequences. While there no cure for it, we present novel approach towards preventing hallmark feature of addiction-- the opiate withdrawal syndrome. Opioids exert numerous effects, acutely chronically, on nervous system physical dependence, tolerance, bei...

BACKGROUND Currently approved medications for opioid addiction have shown clinical efficacy, but undesired side effects, dependence induced by the medications themselves, and low treatment compliance necessitate the need for novel therapies. METHODS A novel morphine-keyhole limpet hemocyanin conjugate vaccine was synthesized with 6-glutarylmorphine as the hapten and a lengthened linker of 6 c...