• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2009

Oxytocin(OT), classically known to stimulate labour and milk ejection, contributes to play an important role in a wide range of behavioral effects including drug addiction. An increasing body of evidence suggests that OT ameliorates acute and long-term effects of commonly used drugs by means of interacting with the mesolimbic dopamine system. Mesolimbic dopamine system is thought to play a major role in the reinforcing properties of drug abuse. Oxytocin receptors in the nucleus accumbens(NAc) and ventral tegmental area(VTA) have been implicated in the regulation of reinforcing effects in abused drugs. In the same way acupuncture may attenuate the reinforcing effects of abused drugs in the NAc and VTA. We have an interest in similar liaison between the substrates of acupuncture and drug addiction that may involve OT. Here, we described the possibility that acupuncture modulates the reinforcing and sensitizing properties of abused drugs in the dopaminergic system via the regulation of activities in the oxytocinergic system. The elements in this paper are summarized as follows : neuroanatomical studies of oxytocinergic innervation and distribution of oxytocin receptors; experiments related to the methamphetamine, cocaine, morphine and ethanol; experiments related to the oxytocin and acupuncture.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2019

Ketamine has long been used as an anesthetic agent. However, ketamine use is associated with numerous side effects, including flashbacks, amnesia, delirium, and aggressive or violent behavior. Ketamine has also been abused as a cocktail with ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Several studies have investigated therapeutic applications of ketamine, demonstrating its antidepressant and anxiolytic effects in both humans and rodents. We recently reported that neonatal maternal separation causes enhanced anxiety- and aggressive-like behaviors in adolescent. In the present study, we evaluated how acute and chronic ketamine administration affected the behavioral consequences of neonatal maternal separation in adolescent mice. Litters were separated from dams for 4 hours per day for 19 days beginning after weaning. Upon reaching adolescence (post-natal day 35-49), mice were acutely (single injection) or chronically (7 daily injections) treated with a sub-anesthetic dose (15 mg/kg) of ketamine. At least 1 h after administration of ketamine, mice were subjected to open-field, elevated-plus maze, and resident-intruder tests. We found that acute ketamine treatment reduced locomotor activity. In contrast, chronic ketamine treatment decreased anxiety, as evidenced by increased time spent on open arms in the elevated-plus maze, and remarkably reduced the number and duration of attacks. In conclusion, the present study suggests that ketamine has potential for the treatment of anxiety and aggressive or violent behaviors.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 1992

In a survey of drug abuse of fourteen types of drugs by employees of public house, the results are follows. $87.4\%$ of male and $82.1\%$ of female ever smoked in his/her life time. $82.2\%$ of male and $75.2\%$ of female smoked in the past month. $90.4\%$ of male and $93.9\%$ of female ever drank in his/her life time. $82.2\%$ of male and $81.6\%$ of female in the past month. $57.8\%$ of male and $54.9\%$ of female smoked daily and $27.4\%$ of male and $53.6\%$ of female drank daily. $3.9\%$ of the employees of public house ever used marijuana in his/her life time: $1.7\%$, stimulants : $5.6\%$ inhalants : $10.0\%$ tranquilizers: $14.6\%$, hypnotics : $32.9\%$ analgesics: $3.7\%$, antitussives: and $1.4\%$, antihistamines; $1.5\%$, cocaine; $0.0\%$ amphetamines; $0.6\%$ narcotics: and $4.71\%$, hallucinogens. Drug use and delinquency showed a dosed relationship: drug users committed higher degree of delinquent behaviors and delinquents used drugs more frequently.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.105-112
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• 2014

Background and objective: Methamphetamine (Meth) is a widely abused psychostimulant that produces hyperlocomotion in rodents. Radix of Glycyrrhizae uralensis comprises a variety of bioactive components that have neuroprotective effects. In a previous study, we have demonstrated methanol extracts from radix of Glycyrrhizae uralensis (MEGR) suppress acute cocaine-induced extracellular dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. In the present study, we investigated the effect of MEGR on acute Meth-induced hyperlocomotion. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered with MEGR (60 mg/kg and 180 mg/kg) 60 min prior to an intraperitoneal injection of Meth (1.0 mg/kg). Results: Behavioral analysis showed acute Meth greatly increased locomotor activities, while pretreatment with MEGR dose dependently inhibited the hyperlocomotion. In parallel, there were markedly increased levels of dopamine and its metabolite 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid in the nucleus accumbens tissues in Meth-treated rats, which were also almost completely reversed by 180 mg/kg MEGR. Conclusions: These results showed that radix of Glycyrrhizae uralensis attenuates Meth-induced hyperlocomotion by inhibiting dopamine synthesis and utilization, suggesting that radix of Glycyrrhizae uralensis might be effective in blocking the rewarding effect of Meth.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.939-948
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• 1998

To investigate the relationship between eating behavior and the prevalence of adolescents drug abuse and smoking, this survey was conducted among 349 male students(mean age ; 16.0 $\pm$0.9yrs) at technical high schools in Kyunggi-Do. It was shown that 58.7% of total subjects were smoking and 11.2% were abusing drugs. Drug abusers weighed Less than non-abusers especially, student smokers were 2.7kg lighter than non-smokers despite the same height. Although parents' education showed no relationship with drug abuse, educational level of student smokers' fathers was significantly lower than that of non-smokers' fathers. Drug abusers and smokers showed significantly higher incidence of runaway from home, absence from school without notice, and parents' divorce than non-abusers and non-smokers. Drugs abused were sleeping pills(n=20), bonds and butane gas(n=9), marijuana(n=3), tranquilizer(n=3), morphine and cocaine(n=2), and pep pills like amphetamine(n=2) 76.9% of the drug abusers had their first experience in junior high school and 81% of the smokers stared smoking as early as in junior high school. Also, 44% of the smokers reported that they smoke daily. The drug abusers tended to have more irregular eating habits than the non-abusers. The smokers showed irregular mealtime, ate either too fast or too slow, and especially, often skipped lunch or dinner. The drug abusers and smokers took little vegetable in their meals and often ate bread or noodles instead of rice for staples. In addition, they preferred taste to nutrition when they had meals. The smokers tended to ingest smaller amount of calcium source such as milk or dinner food and fish with bone although they consume more volume of total foods than the non-smokers. All subjects took less in calorie, calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin E, riboflavin, and folic acid than the Recommended Dietary Allowance Those findings suggest that drug abuse and smoking cause bad eating habits that influence unbalanced nutritional state. Therefore, nutrition education should be provided to the adolescents so that they can recognize the disadvantages of drug and smoking and its relation to dietary relation. (Korean J Nutrition 31(5) : 939-948, 1998)

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 1983

Prostaglandin(PG) is ubiquitously distributed in most mammalian tissue and their actions are complicated. Especially in autonomic nervous system, there are evidences indicating that PGs act as neuromodulators i.e., PGs, which are released in the vicinity of autonomic neuroeffector junctions, influence the release and the response of the neurotransmitter. Present study was undertaken to elucidate the interrelationship between $PGF_{2\alpha}$ and adrenergic ${\alpha}_2-receptor$ function in electrical field stimulation induced contractile response of vas deferens in rat. Male rat, weighing 150{\sim}200\;g, was sacrificed and vas deferens was obtained. The isolated vas deferens strip was placed between two platinum electrodes in temperature controlled $(37^{\circ}C)$ muscle chamber containing Tyrode's solution and the electrical field stimulation(EFS) induced contraction was recorded with Grass Polygraph(Model 7) via force displacement transducer (FT .03, Grass). The results are summarized as follows: 1) Electrical field stimulation for 1sec( 1 msec, 40 cps) induced contraction of vas deferens was completely blocked by tetrodotoxin. 2) Bretylium caused marked inhibition of the EFS-induced contraction, hut tyramine and cocaine augmented the contraction. 3) EFS-induced contraction was inhibited or little affected in distal portion of vas deferens by norepinephrine or methoxamine, but the contraction was rather augmented by the ${\alpha}-agonists$ in proximal portion. 4) Clonidine inhibited the EFS-induced contraction proportionally to the concentration in distal portion, which was blocked by yohimbine pretreatment, but in the presence of $PGF_{2\alpha}$ the blockade by yohimbine was reversed. 5) Indomethacin pretreatment reduced the effect of clonidine, but addition of $PGF_{2\alpha}$ after washing-out the indomethacin caused the contraction to the control level. From these results it is suggested that PG synthesis is a necessary step and the PG itself has a permissive role in ${\alpha}_2-adrenoceptor$ action in rat vas deferens.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.57-67
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• 1994

The aim of this study was to research and compare the demographic characteristics of drug abusers with non-drug abusers among junior high school students in Japan through a closed format questionnaire. The same questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were used in order to find the circumstances of drug abuser among Kyogoin(a sort of child welfare institution) students in Japan. The goal of the study was to provide basic materials for preventive education of drug abuse through the two investigations mentioned above. Between July 1993 and November 1993, the information for this study was collected from 964 students from 4 junior high schools, and also 142 students from 3 Kyogoin in Japan. A total of 1106 questionnaires were completed resulting in a following response rate of 90.4%. Information was based on the scales : family relation scale, school life scale, recognition on danger of drug abuse scale, family environment scale (Moos, 1986), self esteem inventory (Coopersmith, 1967), etc. The conclusions can be summarized as follows : 1. Drug abusers are more likely to lake communication in their families and have poorer human relations than non-drug abusers. Also their school life scores tended to be lawer non-drug abusers. 2. It was between their 6th year of elementary school and their first of Junior high school when the drug was first used. The drug of choice which they made their first attempt at using was a volatile solvent which was inhaled. It is likely that this drug is "gateway-drug" for adolescents in Japan because they then also tried other drugs (e.g. cocaine, marijuana, etc.) step by step. 3. It is therefore clearly important that greatly increasing education on the harmful effects of drug abuse before the summer vacation of the first term of the sixth year of elementary school. At the same time, intervention in the family will have an effective prevention strategy in Japan, as well., as well.

• Plant Resources
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.75-84
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• 2001

Narcotic drugs generally refer to serious and habitual hidden rash such as opium, heroin, methyphetamin, nabinol, cocaine, and so forth. At present, narcotic drugs are spread unchecked and are causing a big social problem. So many countries and narcotists are making every effort to set up a barricade against narcotic drugs. And there is a limit suitable treatment for them. Thus Tuo Yin Tang Jiang is developed. As indicated by Chinese letters, Tuo Yin Tang Jiang(TYTJ) is a crude drug. It is a traditional chinese medicine developed by the study done from June in 1998 to June in 1999 that Hubeisheng was entrusted with by People's Republic of China. This study is a treatise on etiology and syntomatology of narcotism. TYTJ is a medicine which is in accord with Pharmacopeia of the People's Republic of Chinal) in order to remove from the body the toxic materials resulting from narcotic drugs such as opium and heroin. According to the standard diagnosis on narcotism, 105 cases are studied and treated at the Rehabilitation Center attached to Enshi Autonomous Region Hospital in Hubeisheng. 105 cases are divided into 2 groups by double-blind method. One is the experimental group which has 56 cases. The other is the control group which has 49 ones.13 cases among 105 cases are addicted by intravenously injections. 9 cases are by oral takings. It took 10 days for this experiment to be performed. Two groups didn't show a striking individual variation based on the age, gender, period of taking drugs, withdrawal symptoms, complication, and state of health. The experimental group had a higher effect of treatment than the control group had. TYTJ treats diseases effectively and has no side effect, irrespective of the serious or slight addiction to opium and morphine.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.46-56
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• 1996

Many surgeons and anesthesiologists prefer using vasoconstrictor mixed with local anesthetic agent to reduce the incidence of side effects and prolong the duration of analgesia because most local anesthetic agents, except cocaine, were believed to possess vasodilating effect. However, some investigators recently reported vasoconstricting effect of local anesthetic agents. There is still controversy on the vasoactive effect of local anesthetic agents. So this study is aimed to clarify the vasoactive effect of local anesthetics in the animal model resembling clinical settings. Rabbits were anesthesized with ketamine and haloghane, and respirations were controlled with Harvard animal ventilator. Lidocaine (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%) and bupivacaine (0.125%, 0.25% and 0.5%) with or without 1:100,000 epinephrine were subdermaly injected on the femoral bupivacaine of the femoral artery were measured with Doppler flow meter in vivo. The mean arterial pressure, pulse rate, arterial blood gases, pH and level of serum electrolytes were measured at every 2 minute interval for 30 minutes. Results were as follows: 1) There was no significant vasoconstriction with 0.5% lidocaine and 0.125% bupivacaine. 2) Statistically significant (p<0.05) vasodilations were observed with lidocaine (1.0~2.0%) and bupivacaine (0.25~0.5%). 3) There were no changes on the duration of vasodilation induced by local anesthetic agents of various concentrations. 4) Onset of vasodilation induced by local anesthetic agents of high concentration were faster than that of lower concentrations. 5) In the mixed injection group of epinephrine and local anesthetic agent, the vasoconstriction induced by epinephrine was completely reversed by local anesthetics, approximately 5 minutes later. In conclusion, local anesthetic agents at dose exceeding 1.0% lidocaine and 0.25% bupivacaine increase local blood flow significantly in animal study in vivo which is applicable in human clinical settings. The increase blood flow may be due to dilatation of blood vessel. Further study on the analysis of association between amount of absorbed local anesthetics in blood vessels and dilatation of blood vessels is needed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.49-66
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• 2005

Panax ginseng has been useful for the treatment of diverse disease in oriental countries for thousands of years. In addition, a folk medicine prescribed by seven herbal drugs including Panax ginseng has been antinarcotics in the treatment of morphine-dependent patients. Many articles have been reported on these works. Therefore, we review the protective effects of Panax ginseng on the neurotoxicity induced by abuse drugs. Ginseng total saponins (GTS) extracted and isolated by Panax ginseng antagonized Morphine-induced analgesia, and inhibited the development of analgesic tolerance to and physical dependence on morphine. GTS inhibited morphine-6 dehydrogenase, which catalyzes production of mophinone from morphine, and increased hepatic glutathione level responsible to toxicity. Therefore, we hypothesized that these dual actions of ginseng can be associated with the detoxication of morphine. In addition, the inhibitory or facilitated effects of GTS on electrically evoked contraction in guinea pig ileum ($\mu$-receptors) and mouse vas deferens($\delta$-receptors) were not mediated through opioid receptors, suggesting non-opioid mechanisms. On the hand, antagonism of U-50,488H ($\kappa$-agonist)-induced antinociception is mediated by serotonergic mechanisms. GTS also inhibited hyperactivity, reverse tolerance (sensitization) and conditioned place preference-induced by psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine and morphine. On the other hand, GTS reduced the dopamine levels induced by methamphetamine. Moreover, GTS blocked the development of dopamine receptor activation, showing antidopaminergic effect. We suggest that GTS Prevent the methamphetamine-induced striatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity. In addition, Ginsenoside also attenuates morphine-induced cAMP signaling pathway. These results suggested that GTS might be useful for the therapy of the adverse actions of drugs with abuse liability.