Systemic absorption and abuse liability of snorted flunitrazepam

Benzodiazepine hypnotics are widely abused as pan of a polydrug misuse culture. This study set out to investigate some pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of a novel method of abuse, snorting, of flunitrazepam. Twenty healthy volunteers took pan: three took 0.5 mg, three took I mg, three took l.5 mg, six took 2 mg and five took placebo. Blood was sampled and ratings of mood, bodily symptoms, strength and liking of drug effect were completed pre- and at 5, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 240 minutes and at 24 hours post-drug. It was found that flunitrasepam could be detected in venous blood 5 minutes after intake. As the dose increased, the peak plasma concentration was higher but also occurred progressively later, the levels reached being comparable to oral or intramuscular administration at 110 minutes. Subjects reported sedation but complained of few side-effects. They liked the drug effects and subjective ratings of strength were correlated with liking and with plasma drug levels.     

Familial amyloidosis in one Chinese family: clinical, immunological, and molecular genetic analysis

Three members of a Taiwanese kindred developed severe, systemic, early onset (相似文献   

Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Caused by Electrocautery during Pacemaker Generator Change in a Patient with Normal Left Ventricular Function

Pacemaker generator replacement is a simple procedure that is mostly done on outpatient basis. Electrocautery is almost universally used for bleeding control and tissue dissection. Ventricular fibrillation (VF) caused by electrocautery in these procedures is a very uncommon occurrence and an underappreciated possibility with modern day devices. We report a case of monomorphic ventricular tachycardia induced by electrocautery in a patient with normal left ventricular ejection fraction during elective pacemaker generator change.     

Biopharmaceutics: Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics: The Effect of Protein Binding on the Hepatic First Pass of O-Acyl Salicylate Derivatives in the Rat

In this work the in-situ perfused rat liver has been used to examine the effect of changing the protein content of the perfusate on the hepatic extraction of O-acyl esters of salicylic acid. The hepatic availability (F) of these solutes was studied at a flow-rate of 30 mL min^?1 with perfusate albumin concentrations of 0, 2, and 4% w/v. The hepatic availability of the esters was shown to decrease with increasing carbon-chain length in the O-acyl group; for all the esters the hepatic availability increased with increasing albumin concentration in the perfusate. The dispersion-model-derived efficiency number (R_N) of the esters was shown to increase with increasing lipophilicity and decrease with increasing albumin concentration in the perfusate. The unbound fraction (f_u) of the esters decreased with lipophilicity. R_N/f_u for acetylsalicylic acid remained relatively constant as the albumin concentration was increased. However, R_N/f_u for n-pentanoyl-and n-hexanoylsalicylic acids increased significantly as albumin concentration increased from 0% to 4%. Thus, for the more lipophilic solutes (n-pentanoyl- and n-hexanoylsalicylic acids) the presence of albumin apparently facilitates the uptake of unbound solute relative to acetylsalicylic acid.     

Normal Electrophysiological Findings in a Patient with Symptomatic Intermittent Advanced Atrioventricular Block

This report describes an otherwise healthy young woman who presented with syncope during episodes of advanced atriovenlricular (A V) block. The His bundle recordings during normal sinus rhythm and atrial and ventricular pacing were normal. Carotid sinus massage produced no abnormality. Subsequently, (he patient received a permanent pacemaker and has been free of symptoms. In termittent advanced A V block has been observed on follow-up electrocardiograms. This unique case demonstrates a potential limitation of routine electrophysiologic investigation.