(Press-News.org) July 13, 2015 - For people who use cocaine, stopping or reducing cocaine use is associated with decreased levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1)--a protein that plays a key role in the development of coronary artery disease, reports a study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
The findings help in understanding the high rate of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) associated with cocaine use, according to the report by Dr. Shenghan Lai and colleagues of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore. Stopping or reducing cocaine use may prevent the endothelial damage that represents the first step in the development of atherosclerosis, the study suggests.
Stopping Cocaine Use May Lower ET-1--Possibly Slowing Atherosclerosis Progression
The study included 57 African American patients with long-term cocaine use, most of whom had HIV infection. The patients were drawn from a study evaluating incentives to abstain from cocaine use. On initial imaging scans (CT angiography), all had less than 50 percent stenosis (narrowing) of the coronary arteries.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, the study focused on how stopping or reducing cocaine use affected levels of the cardiovascular risk marker ET-1. In previous research, Dr. Lai and colleagues found that ET-1 levels are "remarkably higher" in chronic cocaine users.
Endothelin-1 is believed to play a key role in damage to the endothelium--the thin cell layer lining the inside of blood vessels. Endothelial dysfunction is the first step in the development of atherosclerosis.
At six months' follow-up, 28 of the patients were abstinent from cocaine, as confirmed by urine testing. This group had significantly reduced ET-1 levels, compared to those who continued to use cocaine.
Patients who reduced but did not stop their cocaine use (fewer days of use) also had lower ET-1 levels. This difference was significant after adjusting for other factors, including previous cardiovascular risk and initial ET-1 level.
Follow-up CT angiography scans were performed to assess the progression of atherosclerotic plaques in the patients' coronary arteries. The results showed a lower likelihood of coronary plaque progression for patients who stopped using cocaine--about two-thirds lower than for continued users. In this preliminary study, the difference in plaque progression wasn't statistically significant.
Cocaine users are at high risk of premature atherosclerosis. Despite extensive research, the mechanisms linking cocaine use with the development and progression of atherosclerosis haven't been well explained.
"The findings of this study revealed a possible association of cocaine abstinence/reduction with lowered ET-1 levels, which suggests that such changes in cocaine use might be beneficial for preventing endothelial damage," Dr. Lai and colleagues conclude. They emphasize that more research will be needed to determine if the lower levels of endothelial damage markers reduce the high rates of cardiovascular disease and death associated with cocaine use. The researchers also suggest further studies to assess whether changes in ET-1 levels could be a useful marker of cocaine abstinence and reduction in cocaine use.
INFORMATION:
Click here to read "Cocaine Abstinence and Reduced Use Associated With Lowered Marker of Endothelial Dysfunction in Africa Americans: A Preliminary Study."
Article: "Cocaine Abstinence and Reduced Use Associated With Lowered Marker of Endothelial Dysfunction in Africa Americans: A Preliminary Study" (doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000140)
About Journal of Addiction Medicine
The mission of Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, is to promote excellence in the practice of addiction medicine and in clinical research as well as to support Addiction Medicine as a mainstream medical specialty. Published quarterly, the Journal is designed for all physicians and other mental health professionals who need to keep up-to-date with the treatment of addiction disorders. Under the guidance of an esteemed Editorial Board, peer-reviewed articles published in the Journal focus on developments in addiction medicine as well as on treatment innovations and ethical, economic, forensic, and social topics.
About The American Society of Addiction Medicine
The American Society of Addiction Medicine is a national medical specialty society of over 3,200 physicians and associated health professionals. Its mission is to increase access to and improve the quality of addiction treatment, to educate physicians, and other health care providers and the public, to support research and prevention, to promote the appropriate role of the physician in the care of patients with addictive disorders, and to establish addiction medicine as a specialty recognized by professional organizations, governments, physicians, purchasers and consumers of health care services and the general public. ASAM was founded in 1954, and has had a seat in the American Medical Association House of Delegates since 1988. Follow ASAM's official Twitter handle: @ASAMorg
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2014 annual revenues of €3.7 billion. The group serves customers in over 170 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).
For more information about our products and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube.
Canadian and British researchers have discovered that chromosomes play an active role in animal cell division. This occurs at a precise stage - cytokinesis - when the cell splits into two new daughter cells. It was observed by a team of researchers including Gilles Hickson, an assistant professor at the University of Montreal's Department of Pathology and Cell Biology and researcher at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, his assistant Silvana Jananji, in collaboration with Nelio Rodrigues, a PhD student, and Sergey Lekomtsev, a postdoc, working in the group led by Buzz ...
This news release is available in French. Montréal, July 13, 2015 - It's no coincidence that the earthworm's slender shape makes it perfect for weaving through narrow tunnels. Evolution moulds the shapes of living creatures according to the benefits they offer. At the microscopic level, do the various shapes of bacteria also contribute to their survival? Does a spherical bacterium (coccus) have a better chance of infecting its host than its stick-shaped neighbour (bacillus)?
Analysis of the evolution of the pathogenic bacteria that live in the nasopharynx suggests ...
WASHINGTON (July 13,2015) - The American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry was the source of data for research published in the first half of 2015, including a study that examines public reporting and PCI outcomes as well as research that showed implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are underutilized in older patients.
Is There a Link Between Public Reporting and PCI Outcomes?
Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in states with mandated public reporting of outcomes had similar predicted risks but significantly ...
July 13, 2015 -Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are doing well on specific biological medications should not be switched to recently approved "biosimilar" products, concludes an expert consensus statement of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). The statement appears in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, the official journal of the European Society of Paediatric Gatroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and ...
The world's rarest ape has an increased chance of survival after a team led by international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) found a new family group of Hainan gibbons (Nomascus hainanus).
Until last month, it was thought that there were just 25 Hainan gibbons living in three social groups on an island off the Chinese mainland.
The discovery of a new fourth group, a mating pair with a young baby, sighted within Bawangling National Nature Reserve, Hainan Province, increases the known population by almost 12%.
The discovery of this fourth ...
Numerous long-term randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted to investigate the long-term, factor concentrate-based treatment of patients with severe haemophilia A or B, despite the rareness of the diseases and the lack of incentives for pharmaceutical companies. These RCTs include three studies comparing prophylactic versus on-demand treatment (i.e. treatment initiated only in the event of bleeding). For patients with haemophilia A, both hints and an indication of an added benefit of prophylactic versus on-demand treatment can be inferred from these studies, ...
Children consume more low-nutrition, high-calorie food such as cookies and candy after observing seemingly overweight cartoon characters, according to a first-of-its-kind study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.
The results of the new study, involving Colorado State University and published online in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, show that kids are responsive to the apparent bodyweight of cartoon characters like the aptly named Grimace, a rotund, milkshake-loving creature created by McDonald's restaurant in the 1970s.
Children tend to perceive ovoid, or ...
Immune cells that creep across blood vessels trigger potentially fatal bleeding in platelet-deficient mice, according to a report published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. If the same is true in humans, blocking the passage of these cells could prevent dangerous complications in patients undergoing transplants or chemotherapy.
Bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy are known to deplete blood-clotting cells called platelets, resulting in potentially fatal bleeding (hemorrhage) in some patients. Previous studies showed that inflammation was required for bleeding ...
BOSTON (July 13, 2015)--Physicians in their medical residency training programs often focus on scientific reasoning and research evidence in their efforts to provide medical care. While appropriate, this focus may overshadow subtle and indirect communication that reveals important information about the patient's experience with their illness that will help the physician provide better care. A new study by researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and Boston College presents the results of a strategy to train medical residents to reflect on interactions with patients ...
James Cook University scientists have helped invent a clever technique to tell black leopards apart - a trick that may end up saving their skins.
Scientists from JCU in Australia and others have been studying the leopards on the Malay Peninsula - where almost all of the big cats are jet black.
Experts have no idea why the leopards are black and, until recently, could not tell them apart, hindering research and conservation efforts.
But researchers have now devised a simple method to solve the problem by manipulating the mechanism of automatic cameras.
"Most automatic ...
