Addiction and Health
Year:2019 | Volume:11 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Background: There is an increasing popularity of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) in youth and even in athletes worldwide. Despite the existence of evidence of the harmful effects of hookah smoke on various systems of the body, especially the cardiovascular system, its simultaneous effect with exercise training has not been well studied. We assessed the effects of WTS exposure with/without swimming exercise on blood pressure (BP), and heart histology and mechanical performance in male Wistar rats. Methods: The animals were divided into 4 groups of sedentary control (CTL), waterpipe tobacco smoking (S), mild endurance swimming exercise training (Ex), and waterpipe smoking plus exercise (S + Ex). The duration of WTS and exercise was 8 weeks. Findings: BP and heart rate (HR) did not show a significant difference among the groups. WTS increased the TNF-α level of the heart (P < 0. 05 vs. CTL) and cardiac tissue lesions (P < 0. 05 vs. CTL), and reduced +dP/dt max,-dp/dt max, and heart contractility indices (P < 0. 01, P < 0. 01, and P < 0. 05, respectively, vs. CTL and Ex groups). It also increased the Tau index (P < 0. 05 vs. CTL; P < 0. 01 vs. Ex groups) of the left ventricle. However, the combination of exercise and WTS reduced the TNF-α level, improved the heart activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzymes, and prevented the negative effects of smoking on heart function and morphology. Conclusion: Mild exercise prevents WTS-induced left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction partly via improvement of antioxidants and attenuation of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Background: Chronic usage of morphine elicits the production of inflammatory factors by glial cells and induces neuroinflammation. Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe) is a medicinal herb that has anti-inflammatory properties. It has been reported that ginger shows anti-addictive effects against chronic usage of morphine; however, its influence on morphine-induced neuroinflammation has not yet been clarified. Methods: Morphine (12 mg/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally for 6 consecutive days. To evaluate the effect of ginger on morphine-induced neuroinflammation, ginger extract (100 mg/kg) was given orally 30 minutes before morphine. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) levels were assayed by immunoblotting in the rat nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Findings: The injection of chronic morphine increased the levels of proteins involved in neuroinflammation (p38 MAPK and GFAP) in NAcc. Furthermore, the levels of p38 MAPK and GFAP significantly returned to the control levels by ginger extract. Conclusion: The results suggest that the ginger extract can reduce morphine-induced neuroinflammation in NAcc.

Background: Psychological stress is associated with unhealthy lifestyles, including smoking. Moreover, religious beliefs can play a significant role in relieving mental disorders such as anxiety and stress. Due to the frequent exposure of medical students to stressful situations, this study was conducted with the aim to investigate the relationship of internal and external religious orientation with perceived stress and nicotine dependence. Methods: This correlational study was carried out on medical students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran, in 2015. The sample size was determined to be 224 individuals using the Morgan table. The participants were selected using stratified random sampling. The data collection tools consisted of a demographic information form, the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) (Allport and Ross), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation coefficient, and t-test in SPSS software. Findings: The findings of the study showed that internal religious orientation had a significant negative relationship with perceived stress and nicotine dependence; however, no significant relationship was observed between external religious orientation and these variables. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the religious beliefs of individuals have a preventive role in perceived stress and nicotine dependence.

Background: Drug abuse is one of the main problems of human's life; thus communities have been thinking about the solution of this problem. The present study aimed to compare the general features of drug abuse treatment policies, war on drugs (WOD), and harm reduction (HR), in the selected countries. Methods: The present study was a comparative and desk research that sought to compare context, stewardship, financing, type of substance abuse treatment services, reasons of paradigm shift, and executive challenges of treatment policies in the selected countries (China, Malaysia, Germany, Netherland, and Iran). The necessary data for comparison of the countries were collected through valid databases, review of documents, and reports of international organizations. Findings: Context conditions were better in the HR countries. In most countries, the central government played a key role in the stewardship, financing, and service providing. In WOD countries, the presence of judicial structure was higher in the treatment of drug abuse. The policy-making approach was ideological in WOD countries, but evidence-based in HR countries. Conclusion: It seems that performance of HR countries is better than WOD countries.

Background: Apelin has recently been considered as an adipokine secreted from visceral fat. Apelin and its receptor exist in many tissues including lung and play significant roles in many physiological and pathological activities. However, serum level of apelin-12 is unknown in smokers and in various types of lung malignancies. Therefore, the amount of this hormone in non-patient smokers and the correlation of apelin serum level with the types of lung cancer in smokers afflicted with lung cancer are evaluated in this study. Methods: The amount of serum apelin-12 was measured in 63 patients (59 smokers and 4 non-smokers) with the variety of lung cancer and 61 age-and sex-matched controls (30 smokers and 31 non-smokers) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Findings: The amount of serum apelin-12 in non-patient smokers (2142. 20 ± 843. 61 ng/l) was significantly higher than healthy non-smokers (800. 39 ± 336. 01 ng/l, P < 0. 05), and in the variety of lung malignancies, the amount of serum apelin-12 was 2205. 54 ± 187. 31 ng/l in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) which was a significant increase compared to 1088. 00 ± 136. 52 ng/l in adenocarcinoma, 797. 25 ± 88. 69 ng/l in small cell carcinoma, and 1000. 37 ± 62. 87 ng/l in other malignancies of lung. Conclusion: The meaningful increase in apelin-12 levels of non-patient smokers can be considered as a risk factor for outbreaking of lung SCC in these people. Therefore, apelin-12 may be considered as a target in controlling lung SCC.

Background: Gambling disorder (GD) and substance use disorder (SUD) have mutual impact and each could aggravate the effects of the other. This is the first study on GD among Iranian substance users to develop and validate a GD Screening Questionnaire-Persian (GDSQ-P). Methods: Iranian male adults (n = 503) with SUDs were recruited via clustered sampling. Problem gambling screening instruments and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th Edition (DSM-5) criteria for GD were used to develop the tool which was sequentially assessed for face validity, content validity index (CVI), content validity ratio (CVR), and reliability (Kuder-Richardson coefficient). To establish construct validity, interviews based on DSM-5 as a gold standard method were used. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was conducted to determine sensitivity and specificity. Findings: After removing items with low CVI values, 27 final items remained in GDSQ-P with impact score greater than 1. 5. Card games (33. 8%), dice gambling methods (26. 6%), betting on sports teams and players (24. 1%), and betting on horseback, rooster, pigeon, dog, or other animals (16. 7%) were common gambling methods among participants. Overall Kuder-Richardson coefficient was 0. 95. Cut-off threshold for GDSQ-P was calculated as 4. 5 with 98. 9% sensitivity and 98. 3% specificity. The interviewers confirmed GD for participants based on DSM-5 as the gold standard. The prevalence of GD among participants was 17. 9% based on GDSQ-P and 19. 1% based on DSM-5 criteria. Conclusion: GDSQ-P is a valid and reliable tool to screen for GD in SUD treatment centers and probably in the general population.

Background: Opioid use disorder is a major concern to public health, and opioid maintenance treatment on methadone or buprenorphine is a widely used approach. On the other hand, in recent years, there has been more regards for the use of opium tincture for detoxification and maintenance treatment of opioid dependence in certain parts of the world. The purpose of our research was to compare sexual impairments of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT), and opium tincture maintenance treatment (OMT) in patients. Methods: The study sample consisted of opium-addicted men candidates for maintenance treatment in an addiction quitting clinic in Tehran, Iran, from November 2017 to February 2018. Participants (n = 84) were randomly assigned to three groups (of the equal number), receiving either methadone tablet, buprenorphine sublingual tablet, and opium tincture. The average score for sexual function was evaluated using the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) at the beginning and after 3 months after treatment. Findings: Although there was no significant different in ASEX scores between the groups at the beginning and end of the study (P > 0. 05), but the difference was significant in each group in comparing by themselves. Conclusion: These results showed that sexual dysfunction became better after opioid substitution therapies, and no differences were observed on sexual dysfunction between the three groups.

In the early decades of the 20th century, discussions regarding alcohol were dominantly directed toward its therapeutic uses, but authorities now state that any level of alcohol consumption poses negative effects on health. Over recent months, increased attention has been devoted to disease burdens attributable to alcohol use worldwide. As more and more studies are conducted to illuminate the harmful effects of alcohol on different body systems, the mounting evidence generated requires documentation and publication. The current review was aimed at providing an overview of the recent literature on the adverse consequences of alcohol consumption.