Addiction

Glycation Stress (GS), induced by advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), significantly impacts aging processes. This study introduces a new model of GS of Caenorhabditis elegans by feeding them Escherichia coli OP50 cultured in a glucose-enriched medium, which better simulates human dietary glycation compared to previous single protein-glucose cross-linking methods. Utilizing WormCNN, a deep learning model, we assessed the health status and calculated the Healthy Aging Index (HAI) of worms with or without GS...

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Adequate pain control is often challenging, particularly in patients with chronic pain. Despite advances in pain management, drug addiction, overtreatment, or substance use disorders are not rare. Hence the need for further studies in the field. The substantial progress made over the last decade has revealed genes, signalling pathways, molecules, and neuronal networks in pain control thus opening new clinical perspectives in pain management. In this respect, data on the epigenetic modulation of opioid and cannabinoid receptors, key actors in the modulation of pain, offered new perspectives to preserve the activity of opioid and endocannabinoid systems to increase the analgesic efficacy of opioid- and cannabinoid-based drugs...

Opioids have been utilized for both medical and recreational purposes since their discovery. Primarily recognized for their analgesic properties, they are also associated with the development of tolerance and dependence, contributing to a significant public health concern worldwide. Sex differences in opioid use disorder reveal that while men historically exhibit higher rates of abuse, women may develop dependence more quickly and are more susceptible to the addictive nature of opioids. This narrative review explores sex differences in opioid response in both clinical and experimental models, focusing on opioid receptor mechanisms, pain modulation, and hormonal influences...

As a crucial amino acid, glutamine can provide the nitrogen and carbon sources needed to support cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Interestingly, different types of breast cancer have different dependences on glutamine. This research shows that basal-like breast cancer depends on glutamine, while the other types of breast cancer may be more dependent on glucose. Glutamine transporter ASCT2 is highly expressed in various cancers and significantly promotes the growth of breast cancer. However, the key regulatory mechanism of ASCT2 in promoting basal-like breast cancer progression remains unclear...

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are pivotal in managing metastatic non-oncogene addicted non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). They have unique toxicities known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Previous studies have linked irAEs during atezolizumab-based first-line treatments in advanced NSCLC with improved outcomes. This study explored the association between irAEs and the efficacy of atezolizumab in advanced NSCLC patients who had previously received platinum-based chemotherapy. The study involved 105 advanced NSCLC patients who received atezolizumab monotherapy after progressing on at least one line of platinum-based chemotherapy from a single academic institution in Serbia...

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Dynamic gain control of aversive signals enables adaptive behavioral responses. Although the role of amygdalar circuits in aversive processing is well established, the neural pathway for amplifying aversion remains elusive. Here, we show that the brainstem circuit linking the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) with the nucleus incertus (NI) amplifies aversion and promotes avoidant behaviors. IPN GABA neurons are activated by aversive stimuli and their predicting cues, with their response intensity closely tracking aversive values...

The relationship between adult attachment (anxious attachment and avoidant attachment) and problematic social media use is controversial and contradictory. Hence, the present study clarified the relationship between adult attachment dimensions and problematic social media use through meta-analysis. To better explain the relationship, this study also established meta-analytic structural equation modeling to examine the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship. This study used CMA and R software for data analysis...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Problem gambling (PG) represents a significant public health concern with widespread effects in various cultures and regions globally, with younger individuals and males at a particularly higher risk. This disparity is attributed to a mix of cultural, developmental, and biological influences. To date, there has not been a comprehensive examination to determine whether this risk pattern holds consistently across different jurisdictions. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis using the PRISMA framework, identifying 21 eligible studies from 18 countries, encompassing 156,249 participants (47...

Whilst a substantial body of evidence supports the benefits of exercise for physical and mental health, the overfocus on the benefits of exercise could result in harmful behaviours in some individuals. Conceptualised as a behavioural addiction, research often dichotomises the behaviour through a medical diagnostic model. The present qualitative study explored the meaning of problematic behaviour from the exerciser's perspective. Nineteen UK-based frequent exercisers were interviewed regarding their experiences...

INTRODUCTION: People with substance use disorder (SUD) face challenges like stigma and discrimination, impacting their healthcare experiences. AIM: This study aims to: (i) assess physicians' clinical practices and stigma toward SUD patients among healthcare personnel and (ii) explore the relationship among stigma, psychological well-being, and burnout. METHODS: A survey covering sociodemographic data, physicians' clinical practices, stigmatizing attitudes, psychological well-being, and burnout was completed by 1,796 employees of the Veneto's Local Health Units (Italy)...

BACKGROUND: HIV is one of the most significant worldwide health concerns of the twenty-first century and a serious threat to human society. Hemoglobin level and CD4 cell count are two of the most important biomarkers of HIV progression and patient survival. The objective of this study was to identify common risk factors associated with CD4 cell count and hemoglobin level among adult female HIV-positive patients treated with ART at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia...

BACKGROUND: The interaction between people and advanced information and communication technologies results in behavioral addictions, one of them is nomophobia. In a health care setting, nurses constitute a significant proportion of healthcare workers. Therefore, discovering the level of nomophobia and its impact on constructs such as mindfulness and self-efficacy is very important as this might affect the psychological and physical well-being of nurses, which can impact the quality of patient care...

The exit from active substance use presents barriers to achieving and maintaining health, especially as individuals lack the economic resources to afford healthcare access. Treatment settings that strengthen resources may support stability in recovery and influence health. Analyzing a sample of recovery home residents over two years (N = 494), the current study assessed individually held resources (e.g., wages, employment) and the average economic conditions of a resident's house (e.g., house employment rate) to understand their association with self-reported health status...

Ιnborn errors of immunity (IEI) represents a heterogenous collection of >480 immune system anomalies, leading to severe infections, autoimmune disorders and malignancies. While these conditions are rare globally, their prevalence is notably higher in the Jordanian population, attributed to elevated rates of consanguinity. The intricate nature of IEI has driven the adoption of genomic technologies for the identification of associated genetic defects. In the present study, whole-exome sequencing was performed on nine Jordanian IEI patient samples, confirming germline single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) in 14 genes through Sanger sequencing...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between physical activity and problematic smartphone use among college students, and examines the moderating role of gender within this model. METHODS: From April to May 2023, a survey was conducted involving 2905 undergraduate students from various medical schools in Shandong, China. Participants completed the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale for College Students (MPATS), and the Social Anxiety Scale (IAS)...

Objective  Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a type of social anxiety defined as "intense concern that others may be experiencing rewarding experiences without one's presence," which can lead to illness. Excessive smartphone use is often associated with FOMO. This study aimed to investigate FOMO among medical university students, as well as factors associated with sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and excessive smartphone use. Materials and Methods  A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using electronic questionnaires and the following scales: FOMO scale/score, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS SV)...

Stable production of value-added products using a microbial chassis is pivotal for determining the industrial suitability of the engineered biocatalyst. Microbial cells often lose the multicopy expression plasmids during long-term cultivations. Owing to the advantages related to titers, yields, and productivities when using a multicopy expression system compared with genomic integrations, plasmid stability is essential for industrially relevant biobased processes. Cupriavidus necator H16, a facultative chemolithoautotrophic bacterium, has been successfully engineered to convert inorganic carbon obtained from CO2 fixation into value-added products...

Considering the escalating gap between the population-level need for substance use services and the availability of board-certified addiction specialty physicians, all psychiatrists must be equipped to treat substance use disorders. Residency training programs must therefore ensure that graduates are equipped with a sufficient knowledge base and skill set to treat substance use disorders, including an understanding of medications for addiction treatment and appropriate selection and utilization of psychotherapy for substance use disorders...

OBJECTIVE: Dissatisfaction with an inividual's sex life is underlying factor that can lead to pornography addiction. The current research aims to understand the relationship between pornography use and sexual satisfaction. METHODS: The pooled correlation coefficient with 95% confidence interval was calculated using random effects. The meta-regression method was used to examine factors affecting heterogeneity between studies and Egger's test was used to evaluate of publication bias...