Psychiatry Commons^™

Relationship Of Serum Prolactin With Severity Of Drug Use And Treatment Outcome In Cocaine Dependence., Ashwin A. Patkar, Paolo Mannelli, Kenneth M. Certa, Kathleen Peindl, Heather Murray, Michael J. Vergare, Wade H. Berrettini

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

RATIONALE: Alteration in serum prolactin (PRL) levels may reflect changes in central dopamine activity, which modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine. Therefore, serum PRL may have a potential role as a biological marker of drug severity and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether serum PRL levels differed between cocaine-dependent (CD) subjects and controls, and whether PRL levels were associated with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in CD subjects.

METHODS: Basal PRL concentrations were assayed in 141 African-American (AA) CD patients attending an outpatient treatment program and 60 AA controls. Severity of drug use was assessed …

Differences In Peripheral Noradrenergic Function Among Actively Drinking And Abstinent Alcohol-Dependent Individuals., Ashwin A. Patkar, Charles A. Marsden, Prakash C. Naik, David A. Kendall, Raman Gopalakrishnan, Michael J. Vergare, Stephen P. Weinstein

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

We examined whether excessive alcohol consumption was related to changes in plasma levels of noradrenaline (NA) and whether these changes recover following abstinence. We also explored whether there were differences in NA levels between Type I and Type II alcoholics and controls during active drinking and abstinence. Plasma concentrations of NA were determined in (1) 27 Caucasian men with alcohol dependence who were regularly drinking (active drinkers) within 24 hours of hospitalization, (2) 29 Caucasian alcohol-dependent men who were in remission (abstinent for a minimum of three months), and (3) 28 race- and gender-matched healthy controls. NA concentrations were significantly …

Relationship Between Serotonin Transporter Gene Polymorphisms And Platelet Serotonin Transporter Sites Among African-American Cocaine-Dependent Individuals And Healthy Volunteers., Ashwin A. Patkar, Wade H. Berrettini, Paolo Mannelli, Raman Gopalakrishnan, Margret R. Hoehe, Louai Bilal, Stephen Weinstein, Michael J. Vergare

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

Alterations in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) have been implicated in a variety of psychiatric disorders including cocaine dependence. A polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) appears to influence the expression of 5-HTT in human cell lines. We investigated whether 5-HTTLPR variants were related to differences in measures of platelet 5-HTT sites in cocaine-dependent patients and healthy volunteers (controls). Polymerase chain reaction-based genotyping of a 44 base pair insertion/deletion polymorphism in 5-HTTLPR was performed in 138 cocaine-dependent African-American subjects and 60 African-American controls. This yielded a short (S) and a long (L) allele. Platelet 5-HTT sites …

Pre-Treatment Measures Of Impulsivity, Aggression And Sensation Seeking Are Associated With Treatment Outcome For African-American Cocaine-Dependent Patients., Ashwin A. Patkar, Heather W. Murray, Paolo Mannelli, Edward Gottheil, Stephen P. Weinstein, Michael J. Vergare

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

We investigated whether measures of impulsivity, aggression and sensation seeking differed between cocaine-dependent subjects and controls, and whether these measures were related to treatment-outcome for cocaine patients. Pre-treatment assessments of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsivity Scale [BIS]), aggression (Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory [BDHI]) and sensation seeking (Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale [SSS]) were obtained for 141 African-American cocaine-dependent patients entering a 12-week, intensive outpatient treatment program and 60 controls. The outcome measures were number of negative urine drug screens, days in treatment, dropout rates and number of treatment sessions. Cocaine patients reported significantly higher scores on the SSS, the BIS and the BDHI than …