It has been shown that L-arginine like the abused drugs could release dopamine from meso-cortico-limbic system. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effect of L-arginine with morphine as a standard abuse drug in the induction of conditioned place preference (CPP) in rat. For this purpose, male Wistar rats (250-300 g) were used in the experiments. Five days after surgical cannulat...

Prevalence of hepatitis B genotype C in injection drug users in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, neighboring the "Golden Triangle," correlates well with overland drug-trafficking routes, the injection drug use epidemic, and the spread of HIV. Further spread to other regions of India through mobile populations is possible.

conclusions because a considerable number of idus in iran are receiving reduction services, tailoring services for prevention of hepatitis infection are necessary. results hcv infection was found to be primarily associated with female gender [odds ratio (or) 5.0, 95% confidence interval (ci) 2.0-10.0)], unmarried status (or 2.9, 95% ci 1.9-4.4), drug use for more than 10 years (or 2.7, 95% ci 1...

nucleus accumbens (nac) has been considered as a center for the induction of drug dependence. since a high concentration of the enzyme, nitric oxide synthase (nos) has been found in the nac, and this fact that the role of nitric oxide (no) in acquisition and expression of drug dependence has become clear in recent years, therefore in this study the effects of intraaccumbal injections of l-argin...

BACKGROUND The association between socio-economic marginalisation in urban poor neighbourhoods and the prevalence of violence, crime, drug use and drug dealing has been well documented. However few studies have explored the social context of the transition to, initiation and maintenance of drug injection career in slum areas in developing countries. This study examines the lived experience of y...

BACKGROUND Injection drug use has been the major route of HIV transmission over the past several years in some countries. The aim of this study was to describe epidemiologic and demographic factors, as well as the risk behavior data in HIV-positive patients referred to a private clinic in Tehran. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in 2005 based on documents of 150 HIV-infected patien...

BACKGROUND Injection drug use is a major public health problem. Oral health problems and the appearance of dental disease among injection drug users (IDUs) are caused by their lifestyle. The aim of the present study was to examine the relations between socioeconomic factors, drug use, and oral hygiene habits on the oral health of heroin drug users. METHODS A cross-sectional survey on oral hea...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is prevalent and often causes hepatic fibrosis, which can progress to cirrhosis and cause liver cancer or liver failure. Study of fibrosis progression often relies on imputing the time of infection, often as the reported age of first injection drug use. We sought to examine the accuracy of such imputation and implications for modeling factors that ...