Psychopharmacology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The incidence of unpleasant dreams after sub-anaesthetic ketamine.
Ketamine is an N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist with psychotogenic effects and for which there are diverse reports of whether pleasant or unpleasant dreams result during anaesthesia, post-operatively or after sub-anaesthetic use. ⋯ Ketamine causes unpleasant dreams over the three post-administration nights. This may be evidence of a residual psychotogenic effect that is not found on standard self-report symptomatology measures or a result of disturbed sleep electrophysiology.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) serum concentrations and pharmacological effects in males after smoking a combination of tobacco and cannabis containing up to 69 mg THC.
Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main active constituent of cannabis. In recent years, the average THC content of some cannabis cigarettes has increased up to approximately 60 mg per cigarette (20% THC cigarettes). The pharmacokinetics of THC after smoking cannabis cigarettes containing more than approximately 35 mg THC (3.55% THC cigarettes) is unknown. To be able to perform suitable exposure risk analysis, it is important to know if there is a linear relation at higher doses. ⋯ This study demonstrates that the known linear association between THC dose and THC serum concentration also applies for high THC doses.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pharmacological modulation of the neural basis underlying inhibition of return (IOR) in the human 5-HT2A agonist and NMDA antagonist model of psychosis.
Attentional deficits are common symptoms in schizophrenia. Recent evidence suggests that schizophrenic patients show abnormalities in spatial orienting of attention, particularly a deficit of inhibition of return (IOR). IOR is mostly thought to reflect an automatic, inhibitory mechanism protecting the organism from redirecting attention to previously scanned, insignificant locations. Pharmacologic challenges with hallucinogens have been used as models for psychosis. ⋯ The discrepancy between the behavioral and functional imaging outcome indicates that pharmacological fMRI might be a sensitive tool to detect drug-modulated blood oxygenation level-dependent signal changes in the absence of behavioral abnormalities. Our findings might help to further clarify the contradictory findings of IOR in schizophrenic patients and might, thus, shed more light on possible differential pathomechanisms of schizophrenic symptoms.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Efficacy and safety of bifeprunox in patients with an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia: results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, dose-finding study.
Bifeprunox is a partial dopamine agonist with a unique receptor-binding profile and potential antipsychotic properties. ⋯ These data suggest that 20 mg of bifeprunox may be efficacious in improving symptoms in patients with an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia. Bifeprunox appeared to be safe and well tolerated by patients in this 6-week study.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Acute effects of opioids on memory functions of healthy men and women.
Although several psychotropic drugs can acutely induce an anterograde impairment of memory which impedes new learning, they do not produce retrograde impairments, reducing memory for information learned prior to the drug being administered. However, both anterograde and retrograde memory impairments have been reported following an acute dose of morphine in palliative care patients (Kamboj et al., Pain 117:388-395, 2005). ⋯ We conclude that these standard doses of opioids have only marginal effects on memory. If these findings can be extrapolated to patients with pain, then clinicians can feel confident in prescribing them on an outpatient basis without impacting on patients' daily functioning.