Biomedical subjects

Boguslaw Habrat

Publications and source records attributed to Boguslaw Habrat.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Self-reported effects of methadone on cigarette smoking in methadone-maintained subjects.

Subjects maintained on methadone evidence a high level of interest in quitting cigarette smoking. Readiness to quit may result, at least partially, from direct pharmacological interactions between methadone and brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The aim of the present study was to assess: (1) self-reported changes in smoking habits after admission to a methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program; (2) acute effects of methadone administration on smoking behavior in MMT patients. The study was conducted between May and December 2001, in two public outpatient MMT clinics located in Warsaw, Poland. The patients (41 men, 30 women) reported smoking fewer cigarettes after admission to the program. Most subjects (67.6%) changed their favorite brand of cigarettes after admission. Mean nicotine content (mg/cigarette) significantly decreased. On the other hand, the subjects did not report any effects of methadone administration on smoking parameters. The above findings suggest that initiation of MMT is associated with positive changes in smoking behavior. However, these changes may not be related to direct pharmacological interactions between methadone and nicotine.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Taste responses to monosodium glutamate after alcohol exposure.

AIMS: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of acute and chronic exposure to alcohol on taste responses to a prototypic umami substance, monosodium glutamate (MSG). METHODS: The rated intensity and pleasantness of MSG taste (0.03-10.0%) was compared in chronic male alcoholics (n = 35) and control subjects (n = 25). In a separate experiment, the effects of acute exposure of the oral mucosa to ethanol rinse (0.5-4.0%) on MSG taste (0.3-3.0%) were studied in 10 social drinkers. RESULTS: The alcoholic and control group did not differ in terms of the rated intensity and pleasantness of MSG taste. Electrogustometric thresholds were significantly (P < 0.01) higher, i.e. worse, in the alcohol-dependent subjects. The difference remained significant after controlling for between-group differences in cigarette smoking and coffee drinking. Rinsing with ethanol did not alter either intensity or pleasantness of MSG taste in social drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that: (i) neither acute nor chronic alcohol exposure modifies taste responses to MSG; (ii) alcohol dependence may be associated with deficit in threshold taste reactivity, as assessed by electrogustometry.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Alanine aminopeptidase activity in urine: a new marker of chronic alcohol abuse?

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the activity of urinary alanine aminopeptidase (AAP), the enzyme released from the brush border membranes of renal proximal tubules, as a new biological marker of chronic alcohol abuse. METHODS: The AAP activity was assayed and compared between a group of 76 alcoholics undergoing detoxification and a group of 37 alcoholics abstaining from alcohol for at least 6 weeks. In all patients, the enzyme activity was measured both in untreated urine (uAAP) and after removal of endogenous AAP inhibitors by molecular filtration on Sephadex (eAAP). RESULTS: There was a correlation between the uAAP and eAAP activities in both groups of patients (r = 0.61 and r = 0.81 in abstinent alcoholics and in alcoholics undergoing detoxification, respectively), and both the uAAP activity and the eAAP activity were significantly and markedly higher in alcoholics being detoxified than in their abstinent counterparts. As revealed by receiver operating characteristic analysis, the discriminative power of the eAAP activity assay was higher than that of the uAAP activity assay. The area under the corresponding receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.84 +/- 0.04 and 0.78 +/- 0.05 (mean +/- SE), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that the assays of urinary AAP activity, which relate to the nephrotoxic effects of alcohol abuse, could be a valuable complement to the other presently used markers of chronic alcohol abuse that are generally based on ethanol hepatotoxicity. Compared with the uAAP activity test, the eAAP activity test is of clear diagnostic advantage.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Taste function in methadone-maintained opioid-dependent men.

It has been shown repeatedly that opioid dependence is associated with increased consumption of refined sugars. It is possible that this association results from altered taste reactivity in opioid-dependent subjects. Thus, in the present study, we compared taste responses to sweet, bitter, sour and salty solutions in methadone-maintained opioid-dependent men and healthy control subjects. The two groups did not differ in terms of rated intensity or pleasantness of sucrose (1-30%), quinine (0.001-0.005%), citric acid (0.02-0.1%) and sodium chloride (0.18-0.9%) solutions. Proportions of 'sweet-likers', i.e. subjects rating a 30% sucrose (0.88 M) solution as the most pleasant, were also similar in both groups. In line with the previous findings, the methadone-maintained subjects reported adding more table sugar to caffeinated beverages. The results of the present study suggest that changes in taste reactivity may not be responsible for altered dietary choices in opioid addicts.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Excretion profile of opiates in dependent patients in relation to route of administration and type of drug measured in urine with immunoassay.

It is accepted that opiates are detectable in urine within three days from the last dose at a cut-off value of 300 ng/mL. In our clinical practice, some patients tested positive for morphine even after a week of detoxification. The present study evaluates the time course of opiate excretion in urine of dependent subjects (F11.25 according to ICD-10) in relation to route of administration and a kind of street heroin. The group comprised 71 men treated for opiate dependency: 33 of them used heroin exclusively by inhalation; 26 i.v.; 12 used i.v. homemade poppy straw decoctions. Opiate levels were measured once a day by fluorescence polarization immunoassay (TDx Abbott). Detection time ranged from 3 to 10 days for cut-off value 300 ng/mL and from less than one up to seven days for cut-off value 2000 ng/mL. The increases in urine drug concentration that result from changes in urinary output may be mistakenly interpreted as a new drug use. Normalization of drug excretion to urine creatinine concentration reduces the variability of drug measurement attributable to urine dilution. The time function of creatinine normalized opiate concentration has a log-linear character, and decreases at a rate of 2.5 per day on average. New "normalized" cut-off values were proposed: 225 ng/mg creatinine, 1500 ng/mg creatinine, and 3750 ng/mg creatinine that corresponds to 300 ng/mL urine, 2000 ng/mL urine, and 5000 ng/mL urine.

Creatinine↗