Pregabalin abuse among opiate addicted patients.

PURPOSE: Pregabalin is a novel GABA-analogue approved for the treatment of partial onset seizures, neuropathic pain, and general anxiety disorder. Pregabalin has been classified as a Schedule V drug with a low risk of inflicting abuse or addiction. However, some publications have indicated that pregabalin may have a potential for abuse among patients with past or current opiate addiction. Thus, we hypothesized that pregabalin might be abused by patients who were undergoing an opiate replacement therapy and never had an indication for taking pregabalin on medical grounds. METHODS: Urine specimens from 124 patients with opiate dependency syndrome and from 111 patients with other addiction disorders (alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, amphetamines) were screened for pregabalin by means of a mass spectrometer analysis. RESULTS: We found 12.1 % of all urine specimens from patients with opiate addiction to be positive for pregabalin. None of the patients concerned had a medical indication for using pregabalin. In the control group, 2.7 % of the patients were tested positively for pregabalin, due to their taking it regularly for chronic pain or general anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that pregabalin is liable to be abused among individuals with opiate dependency syndrome Thus, vigilance and caution are called for when patients with a past or current opiate dependency are exposed to treatment with pregabalin.

Lateralized organization of the cerebellum in a silent verbal fluency task: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in healthy volunteers.

Functionally, the cerebellum is not only involved in motor control but is also thought to influence higher cognitive function including language. Anatomical data would suggest crossed reciprocal connections between the cerebellum and higher order cortical association areas. In the following study, one left- and one right-handed female volunteer underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging in a conventional block design. Regions of activation were detected after performance of a silent verbal fluency task inside the scanner. In the right-handed volunteer we found an activation of the left fronto-parietal cortex and the right cerebellar hemisphere, while in the left-handed volunteer the activation was seen in the right fronto-parieto-temporal cortex and the left cerebellar hemisphere. These initial results demonstrate that cerebellar activation is contralateral to the activation of the frontal cortex even under conditions of different language dominance. They provide evidence for the hypothesis of a lateralized organization of the cerebellum crossed to the cerebral hemispheres in supporting higher cognitive function.