Drug trajectories among youth undergoing treatment: The influence of psychological problems and delinquency

Previous research has documented associations of addiction with delinquency and psychological problems. However, few studies have evaluated their influence on adolescent's drug use trajectories. The current study aims to examine the influence of these factors on the recovery trajectories of 199 youths aged 15.6 years on average admitted to inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment centers, followed up three and six months later. Results indicate that youth who show higher severity of drug abuse exhibit greater improvement than youth with a lower severity of drug abuse at the onset of treatment. Although psychological problems were associated with baseline drug use, they did not influence drug use trajectory over time. Only delinquency influenced the recovery trajectories of these youth. Results suggest that a high level of delinquency can have a significant effect on the drug recovery process of adolescents and that interventions should attempt to reduce both drug use and delinquency.     

Reduced Expression of STOP/MAP6 in Mice Leads to Cognitive Deficits

Background: STOP/MAP6 null (KO) mice recapitulate behavioral abnormalities related to positive and negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. Here, we investigated whether decreased expression of STOP/MAP6 proteins in heterozygous mice (only one allele expressed) would result in abnormal behavior related to those displayed by STOP null mice. Methods: Using a comprehensive test battery, we investigated the behavioral phenotype of STOP heterozygous (Het) mice compared with STOP KO and wild type (WT) mice on animals raised either in standard conditions (controls) or submitted to maternal deprivation. Results: Control Het mice displayed prominent deficits in social interaction and learning, resembling KO mice. In contrast, they exhibited short-lasting locomotor hyperreactivity to acute mild stress and no impaired locomotor response to amphetamine, much like WT mice. Additionally, perinatal stress deteriorated Het mouse phenotype by exacerbating alterations related to positive symptoms such as their locomotor reactivity to acute mild stress and psychostimulant challenge. Conclusion: Results show that the dosage of susceptibility genes modulates their putative phenotypic contribution and that STOP expression has a high penetrance on cognitive abilities. Hence, STOP Het mice might be useful to investigate cognitive defects related to those observed in mental diseases and ultimately might be a valuable experimental model to evaluate preventive treatments.Key words: schizophrenia, animal model, microtubule, neurodevelopment, behavioral phenotype, gene x environment interaction     

Tau positron emission tomography,cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration,and neurocognitive testing: an exploratory study of participants with myotonic dystrophy type 1

Journal of Neurology - To investigate Tau pathology using multimodal biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neurocognition in participants with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). We recruited twelve...     

Dolosigranulum pigrum causing nosocomial pneumonia and septicemia

We report a case of non-ventilator-associated nosocomial pneumonia and septicemia due to Dolosigranulum pigrum, a rare gram-positive opportunistic pathogen. The organism was isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood of a debilitated patient. D. pigrum was identified after 16S rRNA gene sequencing.