[The ethnopharmacology of hallucinogens: from "primitive rites" to their "presence" on TV. Proposals for the year 2000]. / Etnofarmacologia degli allucinogeni: dai "riti" primitivi alla "presenza" in TV. Proposte per il duemila.

Hallucinogens are the chemicals which in nontoxic doses produce changes in perception, mental confusion, memory loss, or disorientation for person, place and time, with organic brain reactions. Mescaline and LSD are historically the most interesting hallucinogens. Today the cannabis is very important, socially. Traditional hallucinogens survive everywhere in the world. A dramatic increase in use of cartoons in drug education and prevention programs prove great damages: in comics and films often have stimulated the appetite for drug experimentation (seduction of innocent, R. K. Siegel). Cartoons and comics are instruments for correcting perceptions and behaviour of youth and youthful drug abusers. As the hallucinogens.

[After the benzodiazepines]. / Dopo le benzodiazepine.

After the diazepines, new agents have appeared: sleep-inducing cyclopyrrolones, pure anxiolytic serotoninergic agents such as buspirone or 5HT2 antagonists such as ritanserine, there is also renewed interest for beta-blockers and alpha 2-adrenergic agonists, calcium blocking agents and some NMDA blockers.

[Drug therapy and affective disorders: state of the art]. / Farmacoterapia dei disturbi dell'umore: stato dell'arte.

Different types of depression require adequate treatment. From the most recent MAO inhibitors we go on to tricyclic antidepressants, to the second generation (amoxapine, buspirone, venlafaxine), and to selective inhibitors of 5HT reuptake (fluoxetine and its derivates, again venlafaxine, sertaline). Indications for lithium remain unchanged.

[Consequences of prolonged use of psychoactive drugs. Substitute natural treatment and individual psychotherapy]. / Conseguenze dell'uso prolungato di psicofarmaci. Cure naturali sostitutive ed interventi di psicoterapia individuale.

The history of psychopharmacology shows the differences existing between various groups of substances, natural, and more recent synthetic ones. At present, benzodiazepine anxiolytic agents are being singled out for their abuse and addiction potential. There has been a return to and widespread use of traditional natural therapies and more modern psychotherapy. Patients are more than every wary of synthetic agents. The production of herbal substances is nowdays organized on an industrial scale. The properties of "alternative" herbal agents are illustrated that have been known for centuries and are now studied with the methods of biochemistry. A large number of studies are concerned in several countries with the actions of traditional plants. The WHO encourages this tendency which in some countries has attained official status in schools of medicine, and amounts to a marked reduction in the cost of health. Nevertheless, the past and present importance of the research on synthetic drugs (antibiotics, and even psychoactive substances) cannot be denied. The attention of science in this field is aimed at finding new molecules that are possibly free of addictive properties but are effective in behavioral therapy. A recent example is buspirone. Finally, a psychotherapeutic method is briefly described. In his comment and conclusions the author poses important questions concerning the organization of medical and pharmaceutic studies in the near future.

[The mechanism of action of benzodiazepine and its consequences for therapy]. / Il meccanismo d'azione delle benzodiazepine e sue conseguenze sulla terapia.

Kinetics and mechanism of action of benzodiazepines are at the base of their proper use in clinical management of anxiety, tension, panics, and insomnia. These important agents have specific receptors within the complex GABA-ergic system: according to the most recent studies, GABAA receptors are more important than GABAB receptors. The author illustrates the management of anxiety states, as well as the treatment of anxiety in children, in old people and of panic attacks. Since the use of benzodiazepines has become excessive, the risk of dependence is discussed as well as possible alternatives (buspirone, antidepressants). Finally, the usefulness of anxiolytic drug treatment is stressed which is one of the pivots of psychopharmacology and the study of the GABA-ergic system.

Receptors mediating contraction of isolated human vas deferens.

A large body of evidences has suggested the role of adrenergic, opioidergic and other peptidergic receptors in the mediation of animal vas deferens motility. Different animal species showed different neurochemical patterns, so it is to be expected that human vas deferens has its own specific response to several substances, in relation to its peculiar function. In this study we report on the effects of monoaminergic (norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, isoproterenol, cholinomimetic drugs) and opioidergic (morphine, buprenorphin, beta-endorphin, met-enkephalin and dynorphin) agonists on isolated human vas deferens motility. Norepinephrine and dopamine provoked complex patterns of motility while opioids did not affect the field electroinduced contractions. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to human vas deferens function.