New access to the 7, 17-seco norditerpenoid alkaloids 9 (60%) from yunnaconitine (5), as well as 14 (46%) and 15 (22%) from isotalatizidine (10), via selective hydrolysis, chlorination and reduction with NaBH4 is described.

Article history: Received 8 June 2015 Accepted 4 February 2016 Available online 11 February 2016 The importance of the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex and its subtypes are increasingly recognised in addiction. Using theα1/α5 benzodiazepine receptor PET radioligand [C]Ro15 4513, we previously showed reduced binding in the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus in abstinent alcohol dependence. We...

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a treatment that synthesizes behavioral change with radical acceptance strategies, would be more effective for heroin-dependent women with borderline personality disorder (N = 23) than Comprehensive Validation Therapy with 12-Step (CVT + 12S), a manualized approach that provided the major acceptan...

This study of 20,089 urine specimens from chronic pain patients provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the prevalence of prescription opiates and metabolites, assess the usefulness of inclusion of normetabolites in the test panel, and compare opiate and oxycodone screening results to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) results. All specimens were screened by an opi...

Although much has been learned about the mechanisms of ligand selectivity between different opioid receptor subtypes, little is known about the common opioid binding pocket shared by all opioid receptors. The recently discovered orphanin system offers a good opportunity to study the mechanisms involved in the binding of opioid versus nonopioid ligands. In the current study, we adopt a "gain of ...

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to determine the role of opiate use during pregnancy as a predisposing factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in infants born to HIV-infected mothers. METHODS In order to identify all infant deaths and their cause and association with maternal opiate use, the data of a nationwide prospective cohort study of HIV-infected mothers and their children we...

OBJECTIVES Literature is limited on the relationship between opiate analgesics and the development of infections in cancer patients. This study aimed to determine whether opiate analgesics contribute to the advancement of infections and how infection rates differ among the various opiates used for cancer management. MATERIALS AND METHODS From January 2013 to October 2014, we analyzed retrospe...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Opioid administration is a mainstay of anesthetic practice both for treating acute perioperative pain and for chronic pain syndromes. Growing pharmacogenetic data make it evident that many opiate-related phenomena are influenced by genetics. Genetic variation may significantly affect opiate absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity. We provide a current revi...

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a significant role in associative learning and memory formation during the opiate addiction process. Various lines of evidence demonstrate that glutamatergic (GLUT) transmission through the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor can modulate neuronal network activity within the mPFC and influence dopaminergic signaling within the mesocorticolimbic pathway...

The role of SH groups in opiate-receptor interactions has been further examined. In activation by N-ethylmaleimide of sterospecific opiate binding by rat brain membrane fractions follows pseudo-first order kinetics and exhibits strong temperature dependence. The kinetics indicate that alkylation of a single SH group suffices to block opiate binding. Considerable protection from SH group inactiv...