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Results for “Inhalant Abuse”

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PubMed1999

An electrophysiological analysis of rat ventral tegmental dopamine neuronal activity during acute toluene exposure.

Inhalant abuse is a common, potentially lethal, form of drug abuse. Although the putative psychotropic component of some popularly abused inhalants appears often to be the organic solvent toluene, its effects on midbrain neurones which comprise reward pathways have not been established. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the response of ventral tegmental dopamine neurones during toluene inhalation. Electrophysiological determinations were made using extracellular single-unit recordings in ketamine anaesthetized rats that were exposed to acute (1-15.3 min.) concentrations of toluene vapor (11,500 ppm) similar to those consumed by inhalant abusers. Toluene exposure through a tracheal breathing tube elicited two distinctly different patterns of response in dopamine neurons. One pattern consisted of an initial stimulation of neuronal firing (+221%+/-72%; <8.5 min.) followed by an attenuation of the firing rate with continued exposure (+58.7%+/-6.3%; >8.5 min.). The other pattern consisted of only an inhibition of firing regardless of the length of exposure. Furthermore, the changes in firing rates were paralleled by changes in number of action potentials contained in bursts. Blood samples taken at the time of the dopamine recordings revealed comparable toluene concentrations (4-79 microg/ml, n=24) regardless of the patterns of response. These results suggest that mesolimbic dopamine neurotransmission can be changed by an exposure paradigm comparable to that used by human abusers, and that these changes may be integral to the reinforcing effects underlying inhalant abuse.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed2000

Glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptor function is enhanced by inhaled drugs of abuse.

Inhalable solvents possess significant abuse liability and produce many of the neurobehavioral effects typically associated with central nervous system-depressant agents, including motor incoordination, anxiolysis, and the elicitation of signs of physical dependence on withdrawal. We tested the hypothesis that the commonly abused solvents toluene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCE), and trichloroethylene (TCY) affect ligand-gated ion channel activity, as do other classes of central nervous system-depressive agents. TCE and toluene, like ethanol, reversibly enhanced gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)(A) receptor-mediated synaptic currents in rat hippocampal slices. All three inhalants significantly and reversibly enhanced neurotransmitter-activated currents at alpha1beta1 GABA(A) and alpha1 glycine receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. We previously identified specific amino acids of glycine and GABA(A) receptor subunits mediating alcohol and volatile anesthetic enhancement of receptor function. Toluene, TCE, and TCY were tested on several glycine receptor mutants, some of which were insensitive to ethanol and/or enflurane. Toluene and TCY enhancement of glycine receptor function was seen in all these mutants. However, the potentiating effects of TCE were abolished in three mutants and enhanced in two, a pattern more akin to that seen with enflurane than ethanol. These data suggest that inhaled drugs of abuse affect ligand-gated ion channels, and that the molecular sites of action of these compounds may overlap with those of ethanol and the volatile anesthetics.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1977

Abuse of inhalation anesthetic drugs.

Abuse of inhalational drugs used to produce anesthesia has progressed pari passu with their evolvement and may exist far into the future. It occurs among both professional and lay people and is fraught with toxicological and sociological hazard in excess of many other forms of substance abuse.

Anesthesia, Inhalation↗
PubMed1987

Abuse potential evaluation of inhalants.

Although inhalant abuse remains an important worldwide drug abuse problem, little is known about the relative abuse liability of specific inhalant compounds. This paper reviews approaches which might be used to investigate the abuse potential of inhalants in the laboratory, focusing primarily on animal studies. The principal approaches considered are inhalant self-administration and discrimination studies. A need is identified for further investigations of the abuse potential of inhalants to provide data which should be useful in shaping a more effective public health response to inhalant abuse.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1996

Elevated TNF-alpha and inducible nitric oxide production by alveolar macrophages after exposure to a nitrite inhalant.

Abuse of nitrite inhalants, widespread among male homosexuals, has been identified by epidemiological studies as an independent risk factor for AIDS and for Kaposi's sarcoma. Subchronic exposure of mice to inhaled isobutyl nitrite was previously found to impair the tumoricidal activity of peritoneal macrophages. Because inhalants would be expected to have the greatest effects on cells in the lung, alveolar macrophages from exposed mice were examined in this study. Mice were exposed to 900 ppm isobutyl nitrite in an inhalation chamber for 45 min/day for 14 days. Following this treatment, the lungs of exposed mice had large increases in cellularity, both in the alveolar septa and within the alveoli. Bronchoalveolar lavages also contained increased numbers of cells. Alveolar macrophages collected from treated mice had increased tumoricidal activity compared with controls and produced higher levels of inducible nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). The frequency of alveolar cells secreting TNF-alpha was increased ninefold in mice exposed to the inhalant. Cell influx into the lung, as indicated by the presence of red blood cells in lung lavages, was evident after only a single 45-min exposure to inhaled isobutyl nitrite at doses as low as 300 ppm.

Aerosols↗
PubMed2004

Inhalant use, abuse, and dependence among adolescent patients: commonly comorbid problems.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about adolescents with DSM-IV-defined inhalant abuse and dependence. The aim of this study was to compare comorbidity among (1) adolescents with inhalant use disorders, (2) adolescents who reported using inhalants without inhalant use disorder, and (3) other adolescent patients drawn from an adolescent drug and alcohol treatment program. METHOD: The authors examined 847 admissions of patients who had completed structured diagnostic assessments. The three groups were compared for noninhalant substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, conduct disorder, major depression, previous suicide attempts, and physical/sexual abuse and neglect. RESULTS: Adolescents with inhalant abuse or dependence (group 1; n = 28) were significantly more likely to meet lifetime criteria for abuse or dependence on alcohol, hallucinogens, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines, to have had major depression, and to have attempted suicide compared with other adolescent patients who reported never using inhalants (group 3); adolescents with inhalant use disorders also reported significantly more abuse and neglect. Adolescents with inhalant abuse or dependence (group 1) did not differ significantly on any measure compared with adolescents who reported using inhalants without an inhalant use disorder (group 2). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent patients with a history of inhalant use, abuse, or dependence entering treatment should be carefully screened for noninhalant substance use disorders, major depression, suicidality, and abuse and neglect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Cranial MR findings in chronic toluene abuse by inhalation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chronic abuse of toluene by inhalation causes variable white matter changes and thalamic hypointensity on T2-weighted MR images. The purpose of our study was to assess cranial MR findings in a large series of patients who chronically abuse toluene-containing solvents to investigate the factors causing the qualitative variability of white matter changes and thalamic hypointensity. METHODS: We studied the neurologic signs, symptoms, and cranial MR findings in 41 patients who chronically abused thinner, a toluene-containing solvent. We classified white matter changes as diffuse or restricted. We tested the associations of the development of white matter lesions and thalamic hypointensity with patient age at onset of abuse and duration of abuse. RESULTS: MR images revealed white matter lesions in 46% of the patients, atrophic dilatation of ventricles and sulci in 27%, and thalamic hypointensity in 20%. White matter changes were restricted in 53% and diffuse in 47%. The development of white matter changes and thalamic hypointensity were significantly associated with duration of abuse longer than 4 years (P <.05 and P <.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: White matter changes seem to start in the deep periventricular white matter, and they spread into peripheral white matter, causing the loss of gray matter-white matter differentiation with continued toluene abuse. The deposition of iron due to demyelination and axonal loss is the most probable mechanism for the thalamic hypointensity found in solvent abusers.

Administration, Inhalation↗