Molecular Mechanisms Of Substance Abuse And Its Neurotoxicity

Methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, PMA , GHB, and various solvents are the most widely abused drugs in Europe, the United States, Central America, South America, and Asia; and their use has dramatically increased over the last two decades. These drugs of abuse are known to cause neurotoxicity in several species, including not only rodents, dogs, and nonhuman primates, but also humans. The precise neurochemical mechanisms underlying this drug-induced neurotoxicity remain unclear. This volume explores this question, specifically addressing the following aspects: (1) the role of genomics and proteomics in drug-induced neurotoxicity, (2) drugs of abuse and medication development, (3) molecular biology and free radicals in drug-induced neurotoxicity, (4) substituted amphetamine-induced neurochemical changes and relationship to neurotoxicity, (5) drugs of abuse and imaging brain structure and function. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member

This volume brings together basic and clinical investigators for the purpose of deepening our understanding of drugs of abuse and treatment of drug addiction. Methamphetamine, MDMA, PMA, and various solvents are the most widely abused drugs in the world; and their use has dramatically increased over the last two decades. These drugs of abuse are known to be neurotoxic in several species, including rodents, dogs, nonhuman primates, and humans. Nevertheless, the precise neurochemical mechanisms underlying this drug-induced neurotoxicity remain unclear. This volume will serve as a useful source of information not only for neurochemists, but also for investigators from many other disciplines.

Drug abuse has been, and continues to be, a global societal issue with diverse sets of impacts. Drugs of Abuse: Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms introduces the basic principles of pharmacology and neuroscience of drug abuse. Understanding the chemistry of commonly abused drugs and their impact on brain function will provide students and researchers with a more profound understanding of the molecular basis of drug abuse and addiction. Drugs of Abuse: Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms opens with a brief history of drug use and abuse. Subsequent sections look at specific families of drugs, including stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens among others, and explore how their chemical make-up interacts with brain function. The final chapter provides a brief overview of clinical substance abuse treatment. Providing a concise, accessible introductory overview of the topic, Drugs of Abuse: Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms will be a valuable resource for students, researchers, and others interested in how drugs interact with the brain. Introduces readers to the basic principles of neuroscience and pharmacology as related to drug use and abuse. Explores how the chemical make-up of drugs interact with the brain and can lead to addiction Includes coverage of a wide array of commonly abused families of drugs, including stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, and others. Provides an essential introduction to the chemical and molecular underpinnings of drug use and abuse

Drug abuse has been, and continues to be, a global societal issue with diverse sets of impacts. Drugs of Abuse: Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms introduces the basic principles of pharmacology and neuroscience of drug abuse. Understanding the chemistry of commonly abused drugs and their impact on brain function will provide students and researchers with a more profound understanding of the molecular basis of drug abuse and addiction. Drugs of Abuse: Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms opens with a brief history of drug use and abuse.

Drug abuse persists as one of the most costly and contentious problems on the nation's agenda. Pathways of Addiction meets the need for a clear and thoughtful national research agenda that will yield the greatest benefit from today's limited resources. The committee makes its recommendations within the public health framework and incorporates diverse fields of inquiry and a range of policy positions. It examines both the demand and supply aspects of drug abuse. Pathways of Addiction offers a fact-filled, highly readable examination of drug abuse issues in the United States, describing findings and outlining research needs in the areas of behavioral and neurobiological foundations of drug abuse. The book covers the epidemiology and etiology of drug abuse and discusses several of its most troubling health and social consequences, including HIV, violence, and harm to children. Pathways of Addiction looks at the efficacy of different prevention interventions and the many advances that have been made in treatment research in the past 20 years. The book also examines drug treatment in the criminal justice setting and the effectiveness of drug treatment under managed care. The committee advocates systematic study of the laws by which the nation attempts to control drug use and identifies the research questions most germane to public policy. Pathways of Addiction provides a strategic outline for wise investment of the nation's research resources in drug abuse. This comprehensive and accessible volume will have widespread relevanceâ€"to policymakers, researchers, research administrators, foundation decisionmakers, healthcare professionals, faculty and students, and concerned individuals.

The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.

Scientists agree that exposure to toxic agents in the environment can cause neurological and psychiatric illnesses ranging from headaches and depression to syndromes resembling parkinsonism. It can even result in death at high exposure levels. The emergence of subclinical neurotoxicity-the concept that long-term impairments can escape clinical detection-makes the need for risk assessment even more critical. This volume paves the way toward definitive solutions, presenting the current consensus on risk assessment and environmental toxicants and offering specific recommendations. The book covers: The biologic basis of neurotoxicity. Progress in the application of biologic markers. Reviews of a wide range of in vitro and in vivo testing techniques. The use of surveillance and epidemiology to identify neurotoxic hazards that escape premarket screening. Research needs. This volume will be an important resource for policymakers, health specialists, researchers, and students.