[Overdosing of popular medicines available without a prescription, a new trend among teenagers]. / Naduzywanie popularnych leków dostepnych bez recepty nowym trendem wsród mlodziezy.

INTRODUCTION: For last several years popularity of substances which improve concentration or/and cause hallucinations has considerably increased. There is a conviction that most frequent addictions among teenagers are cigarettes, alcohol or drugs of abuse. A very dangerous phenomenon has been ignored, becoming more common among scholars and students - usage of medicines available without doctor's prescription (over the counter drugs - OTC). Popularity and fame of these specifics comes from side effects observed especially when overdosed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In years 2007-2012 in Clinical Toxicology Laboratory of Medical Pomeranian University 4304 toxicological analyses was conducted with specified direction on drugs analysis (39% of all analyses made in that period). In some cases, especially of young people, a doctor ordering the analysis pointed as possible cause of intoxication "recreational usage" of OTC drugs. Those suspicions were confirmed by toxicological examinations. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that dominating character feature of people who abuse psychoactive substances is emotional immaturity. Maturation process can be impaired or completely inhibited by abusing psychoactive substances. This is processes are considered which enhance immaturity of person's personality - so called defense mechanisms.

Commonly prescribed medications and potential false-positive urine drug screens.

PURPOSE: The implications of potential false-positive urine drug screen (UDS) results for patients receiving commonly prescribed medications were evaluated. SUMMARY: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify false-positive UDSs associated with all clinic formulary medications, as well as common nonprescription medications. The references of each report describing a medication whose use was associated with false-positive UDS results were also reviewed. If a class effect was suspected, additional agents in the category were searched. A total of 25 reports of false-positive UDS results were identified. Categories of medications included antihistamines, antidepressants, antibiotics, analgesics, antipsychotics, and nonprescription agents. Reports of false-positive results were found for the following formulary and nonprescription medications: brompheniramine, bupropion, chlorpromazine, clomipramine, dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine, doxylamine, ibuprofen, naproxen, promethazine, quetiapine, quinolones (ofloxacin and gatifloxacin), ranitidine, sertraline, thioridazine, trazodone, venlafaxine, verapamil, and a nonprescription nasal inhaler. False-positive results for amphetamine and methamphetamine were the most commonly reported. False-positive results for methadone, opioids, phencyclidine, barbiturates, cannabinoids, and benzodiazepines were also reported in patients taking commonly used medications. The most commonly used tests to screen urine for drugs of abuse are immunoassays, even though false-positive results for drugs of abuse have been reported with a number of these rapid-screening products. Results from such tests should be confirmed using additional analytical methods, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. CONCLUSION: A number of routinely prescribed medications have been associated with triggering false-positive UDS results. Verification of the test results with a different screening test or additional analytical tests should be performed to avoid adverse consequences for the patients.

A preliminary investigation into the use of biosensors to screen stomach contents for selected poisons and drugs.

The bioluminescence response of two genetically modified (lux-marked) bacteria to potentially toxic compounds (PTCs) in stomach contents was monitored using an in vitro assay. Cells of Escherichia coli HB101 and Salmonella typhimurium both carrying the lux light producing gene on a plasmid (pUDC607) were added to stomach contents containing various concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds. There was some variability in the response of the two biosensors, but both were sensitive to the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T); pentachlorophenol (PCP), and inorganic poisons arsenic and mercury at a concentration range likely to be found in stomach contents samples submitted for toxicological analysis. This study demonstrates that biosensor bioassays could be a useful preliminary screening tool in forensic toxicology and that such a toxicological screening should include more than one test organism to maximise the number of PTC's detected. The probability of false positive results from samples containing compounds that may interfere with the assay such as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and caffeine in tea and coffee was also investigated. Of the substances tested only coffee has the potential to cause false positive results.