Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.16.2 (PCP)
 3,761 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Currently, average apparent consumption of alcohol for all persons older than 14 is 10 percent higher than 10 years ago, and is equivalent to about 2.75 gallons of ethanol per person per year. Approximately 10 million adult Americans (i.e., 7 percent of those 18 or older) can be considered problem drinkers. Youthful problem drinkers, aged 14 to 17, are estimated to number more than 3 million and comprise 19 percent of this age group. In addition to the social costs, the economic costs to society as a result of alcohol misuse are substantial--an estimated +49.4 billion in 1977. Ten percent of all deaths in the United States are alcohol-related. Cirrhosis, which is largely attributable to alcohol consumption, ranks among the 10 leading causes of death. Alcohol use also is associated with cancer of the liver, pancreas, esophagus, and mouth. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is associated with a wide range of possible harmful effects to the fetus--among them decreased birth weight, spontaneous abortion, and physical and mental birth defects. Drug misuse is also an expanding problem. There are some 16 million current marijuana users. The popularity of cocaine continues to increase--over 10 million Americans have tried cocaine at least once and there are an estimated 1 to 2 million current users. Misuse of barbiturates remains a significant problem with at least 1 million persons believed to misuse these drugs and the 30,000 estimated to be addicted to them. In addition, heroin addiction is still considered by many to be the most serious drug problem in the United States. Drug misuse leads to a number of social and health problems. Excessive doses of depressants can result in both physical and psychological dependence. The toll from heroin includes premature death and severe disability, family disruption, and crime committed to maintain the habit. Misuse of hallucinogens often results in emergency room visits. A special problem is the relationship of marijuana to automobile accidents, especially when used in combination with alcohol. While these events are disconcerting, progress has been made. National surveys indicate no changes in peak quantity consumed by teenagers 12 to 17 or in regularity of their drinking, between 1974 and 1978. Alcoholism mortality rates and alcoholic psychosis rates have shown little overall increase between 1950 and 1975. And similar encouraging trends have occurred in drug misuse. Several drug abuse data sources simultaneously have begun to reflect a down turn in use rates. These early indicators must be monitored overtime before conclusions as to their true significance can be evaluated.Nonetheless, the daily use of marijuana by high school seniors dropped from a peak of 10. 7 percent in 1978 to 7.0 percent in 1981. Daily regular cigarette smoking among seniors also declined dramatically-from 28 percent to 10 percent in the same period. The use of the hallucinogenic drug PCP also dropped markedly. Cocaine,heroin and sedative use among high school seniors remained relatively stable in terms of annual and lifetime prevalence, although the use of stimulants rose markedly. Of the 16 categories of drug use analyzed in the recent High School Senior Drug Use Survey, drug use in 15 categories was either stable or was decreasing(the second year of decline since the survey began in 1975).
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PMID:Health promotion: Alcohol and drug misuse prevention. 641 12

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) ion channel plays a role in neuroprotection, neurodegeneration, long-term potentiation, memory, and cognition. It is implicated in the pathophysiology of several neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders including Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Chorea, schizophrenia, alcoholism and stroke. The development of effective radiotracers for the study of NMDA receptors is critical for our understanding of their function, and their modulation by endogenous substances or therapeutic drugs. Since the NMDA/PCP receptor lies within the channel, it is a unique target and is theoretically accessible only when the channel is in the active and "open" state, but not when it is in the inactive or "closed" state. The physical location of the NMDA/PCP receptor not only makes it an important imaging target but also complicates the development of suitable PET and SPECT radiotracers for this site. An intimate understanding of the biochemical, pharmacological, physiological and behavioral processes associated with the NMDA ion channel is essential to develop improved imaging agents. This review outlines progress made towards the development of radiolabeled agents for PCP sites of the NMDA ion channel. In addition, the animal and pharmacological models used for in vitro and in vivo assessment of NMDA receptor targeted agents are discussed.
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PMID:Imaging the PCP site of the NMDA ion channel. 1469 91

We assessed whether, after controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences, early cannabis use remains a significant predictor of other drug use, abuse, and dependence, and whether the risk for early-users is greater than that for later cannabis users. Data from a 1992 telephone diagnostic interview of 8169 male twins (M=42.0 years at interview) who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam-era were used to identify a subsample of 293 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use (before age 18). Using cotwin-control analyses, outcomes assessed were: lifetime illegal drug use (stimulant/cocaine, sedative, opiate, and hallucinogen/PCP), lifetime DSM-III-R illegal drug abuse/dependence, and lifetime DSM-III-R alcohol dependence. After controlling for covariates, early cannabis users were at greater risk than their later/never-using cotwins for 8 of 9 substance-related comparisons, including: using other illegal drugs (ORs: 2.71-4.09), having illegal drug abuse/dependence (ORs: 2.02-2.13), and developing alcohol dependence (OR=2.36). When analyses were limited to pairs in which the cotwin used cannabis later, early and later-users only differed significantly on sedative, opiate, and hallucinogen use. After familial influences on early cannabis use were controlled for, cannabis use-regardless of the age of initiation-still conferred increased risk of other illegal drug use, drug abuse/dependence, and alcohol dependence. In contrast to previous research, there is limited evidence for increased risk associated with early-onset use in this sample of Vietnam-era veterans.
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PMID:A cotwin-control analysis of drug use and abuse/dependence risk associated with early-onset cannabis use. 1971 42

Introduction. Wernicke's encephalopathy is a well-described syndrome characterized by the classic triad of confusion, ataxia, and ophthalmoplegia. Wernicke's encephalopathy results from thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. Common causes include alcoholism and gastric disorders. Wernicke's has been described in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); however, given these patients' immunosuppressed state, the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy is not apparent. Case Presentation. A 31-year-old previously healthy male presented to the ER complaining of progressive dyspnea. Workup revealed HIV/AIDS and PCP pneumonia. He was treated and improved. On day 14 he became confused and developed nystagmus and ataxia. Considering his immunocompromised state, infectious and neoplastic etiologies topped the differential diagnosis. CT head was negative. Lumbar puncture was unremarkable. Brain MRI revealed increased T2 signal in the medial thalamus bilaterally. Intravenous thiamine was administered resulting in resolution of symptoms. Discussion. The classic triad of Wernicke's encephalopathy occurs in 10% of cases. When immunosuppressed patients develop acute neurologic symptoms infectious or neoplastic etiologies must be excluded. However, given the relative safety of thiamine supplementation, there should be a low threshold for initiating therapy in order to reverse the symptoms and prevent progression to Korsakoff dementia, which is permanent.
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PMID:Wernicke's Encephalopathy: An Unusual Consequence of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-Case Report and Literature Review. 2393 38