(Press-News.org) An article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) describes five things clinicians and harm reduction workers should know about xylazine, a veterinary medication adulterating the illicit opioid supplyhttps://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231603.
There is no antidote to the effects of xylazine, and the authors explain that xylazine contamination should be suspected when naloxone appears not to work effectively in people with opioid toxicity.
Highlights:
Xylazine is not approved for use in humans and is increasingly found in illicit drug samples along with fentanyl. People using opioids may be unaware of its presence.
The drug is reported to increase euphoria and can cause sedation, low blood pressure, and slower than normal heart rate. These symptoms can persist after treatment with naloxone.
Treating opioid-induced breathing issues with naloxone and supporting the airway remain the priorities, even when xylazine contamination is suspected.
Xylazine is associated with severe ulcerative wounds distinct from those normally seen with intravenous drug use.
Chronic use of xylazine can result in withdrawal symptoms, and other medications may be needed to manage discomfort, irritability, and low blood pressure.
"Xylazine is not part of routine urine drug screens, and there are no approved treatments or reversal agents beyond supportive care," writes Dr. Peter Wu, an internist at University Health Network and the University of Toronto with Dr. Emily Austin of the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario.
"Specialized addictions care remains critical to addressing the underlying substance use disorder."
END
Veterinary drug newly found in illicit opioid supply resistant to naloxone
2024-02-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Difficulty swallowing, allergies in children and young adults: is it eosinophilic esophagitis?
2024-02-05
Children and young adults with allergies or eczema who have difficulty swallowing may have eosinophilic esophagitis. A review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) provides guidance on how to diagnose and manage this chronic inflammatory disease https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.230378.
In people with eosinophilic esophagitis, the esophageal lining is inflamed, which can cause injury and narrowing of the throat. Although it can affect anyone, the risk is higher in children aged 5–14 years ...
Down to the core of poxviruses
2024-02-05
A recent re-emergence and outbreak of Mpox brought poxviruses back as a public health threat, underlining an important knowledge gap at their core. Now, a team of researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) lifted the mysteries of poxviral core architecture by combining various cryo-electron microscopy techniques with molecular modeling. The findings, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, could facilitate future research on therapeutics targeting the poxvirus core.
Variola virus, the most notorious poxvirus and one of the deadliest viruses to have ...
New weight loss medication may help lower blood pressure in adults with obesity
2024-02-05
Research Highlights:
The weight loss medication tirzepatide significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure of nearly 500 adults who had obesity and took the medication for 36 weeks, or about eight months, in a subset of an international clinical trial.
Participants taking 5 mg of tirzepatide had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 7.4 mm Hg; participants taking 10 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 10.6 mm Hg; and participants taking 15 mg had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 8.0 mm Hg.
In this study, the blood-pressure lowering effects of tirzepatide were evident during both day and night ...
Study finds new treatment to reverse inflammation and arterial blockages in rheumatoid arthritis
2024-02-05
UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 10AM (UK TIME) ON MONDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2024
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that the molecule RvT4 enhances the body’s natural defences against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Studies in mice undertaken by researchers from Queen Mary University of London’s William Harvey Research Institute and Centre for Inflammation and Therapeutic Innovation, and funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and Barts Charity, shows that increasing levels of the RvT4 molecule in the body improves the ability of the body’s own defence ...
Improving climate predictions by unlocking the secrets of soil microbes
2024-02-05
Climate models are essential to predicting and addressing climate change, but can fail to adequately represent soil microbes, a critical player in ecosystem soil carbon sequestration that affects the global carbon cycle. A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed a new model that incorporates genetic information from microbes. This new model enables the scientists to better understand how certain soil microbes efficiently store carbon supplied by plant ...
City of Hope preclinical study uncovers two proteins’ crucial role in causing cancer cell growth
2024-02-05
FINDINGS
Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, have discovered a new cellular mechanism that plays an important role in cancer cells’ ability to cause disease. The study was published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology today.
A team led by Chun-Wei (David) Chen, Ph.D., an associate professor of systems biology at City of Hope, pinpointed two cell-surface proteins, integrin αV and β5, that partner to spur cancer cell growth. The researchers next identified a region of integrin αV called the β-propeller domain ...
Immune response, not acute viral infections, responsible for neurological damage, McMaster researchers discover
2024-02-05
For years, there has been a long-held belief that acute viral infections like Zika or COVID-19 are directly responsible for neurological damage, but researchers from McMaster University have now discovered that it’s the immune system’s response that is behind it.
The research, published on Feb. 5, 2024 in Nature Communications, was led by Elizabeth Balint, a PhD student at McMaster, and Ali Ashkar, a professor with the Department of Medicine and the Canada Research Chair in Natural Immunity and NK Cell Function.
“We were interested in trying to ...
Scientists mix and match properties to make new superconductor with chiral structure
2024-02-03
Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new superconductor with a chiral crystalline structure by mixing two materials, one with superconductivity but no chirality, another with chirality but no superconductivity. The new platinum-iridium-zirconium compound transitions to a bulk superconductor below 2.2 K and was observed to have chiral crystalline structure using X-ray diffraction. Their new solid solution approach promises to accelerate the discovery and understanding of ...
Cary Institute receives NSF funding to offer ecological research experiences for teachers
2024-02-03
(Millbrook, NY) Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies is launching a new program to support high school and middle school educators in teaching global change and ecology. Starting in the summer of 2024, nine teachers will spend six weeks at Cary Institute conducting collaborative research in ecosystem science. Follow-up meetings throughout the school year will support the teachers as they develop and implement innovative curricula based on their research experiences.
The program is funded by a three-year award from the National Science Foundation as part of its Research ...
California voter poll: Schiff leads, while Porter and Garvey neck-and-neck for second in the U.S. Senate primary
2024-02-03
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter and former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey are deadlocked in the race for second place in the U.S. Senate primary in California, according to a new poll on California politics and policies from USC; California State University, Long Beach; and Cal Poly Pomona.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, leads all candidates with 25% of likely voters, according to the California Elections and Policy Poll. Porter, a Democrat, and Garvey, a Republican, each received support from 15%. Other candidates are in single digits, with Democratic U.S. Rep. ...