Long-acting olanzapine injection during pregnancy and breastfeeding: a case report.

We present one case of a woman treated with the intramuscular depot formulation of the atypical antipsychotic, olanzapine pamoate (ZypAdhera®), during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Data on olanzapine distribution in breast milk as well as on plasma concentration in the nursed infant are provided. The present case report demonstrates that olanzapine was excreted in the breast milk, but the breast-fed infant had very low olanzapine concentrations, which did not result in any adverse effects.

Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials for diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders in adults. A blinded study.

The aim of the present study was to examine the clinical utility of complex auditory brainstem response (c-ABR) and investigate if c-ABR is helpful in the diagnostic procedure. Thirty-one adult psychiatric patients, thoroughly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n=16), ADHD (n=8), or schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) (n=7) and 15 healthy controls (HC), were blindly assessed with SensoDetect BERA. This c-ABR correctly identified psychiatric diagnoses in 4 patients (13%) and provided partially correct diagnoses in 11 more patients. Of the 15 HC, 6 were misclassified as psychiatric patients. The Cohen´s kappa coefficient (κ) was substantial for HC (κ=0.67), fair for SSD (κ=0.37), slight for ADHD (κ=0.09) and without agreement in ASD (κ=-0.03). In conclusion, we found the c-ABR method unhelpful and unreliable as a tool in clinical diagnostics.

Ethanol alters the effect of kappa receptor ligands on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens.

Repeated exposure to ethanol has previously been shown to induce alterations in both midbrain dopamine and dynorphin systems. The aim of this study was to investigate functional changes in the sensitivity of dynorphin/kappa-receptor systems following repeated ethanol administration, using dopamine as an indirect marker. The effects of kappa-opioid receptor ligands on dopamine release in the rat nucleus accumbens were investigated following repeated ethanol administration (2 g/kg body weight, twice daily for 7 days). The selective kappa-receptor agonist U50, 488H reduced dopamine levels in both ethanol- and saline-treated animals, although the decline had a later onset and lasted shorter in the ethanol-treated group. Nor-binaltorphimine, a kappa-antagonist, produced a significant increase of dopamine in ethanol-treated rats, but lacked effect in the saline-treated group. This change in responsiveness of dopamine neurons following repeated ethanol administration could be related to changes in the sensitivity of kappa-receptor systems and/or an increase in dynorphin tone in the nucleus accumbens.

Effects of single and dual administration of cocaine and ethanol on opioid and ORL1 receptor expression in rat CNS: an autoradiographic study.

The co-abuse of cocaine and ethanol is common among human addicts and has been reported to produce a stronger increase of euphoria as compared to either drug given alone. Both cocaine and ethanol increase the extracellular dopamine concentration in the nucleus accumbens, a terminal region in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. In addition, both cocaine and ethanol affect the endogenous opioid system, which in turn alters the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. We have carried out quantitative autoradiography mapping of the opioid receptors as well as the opioid receptor-like 1 receptor in the brains of rats treated with both single and dual cocaine and ethanol. Rats received acute cocaine, ethanol or both drugs in combination. Ethanol alone or in combination with cocaine modulated the receptor densities in rat central nervous system. The kappa receptor densities were generally decreased, while both the mu and the opioid receptor-like 1 receptors were up-regulated. The mu opioid receptor levels were mainly increased in non-cortical regions, whereas the opioid receptor-like 1 receptors were increased in cortical structures. No changes in delta opioid receptors were observed. Cocaine alone did not influence the receptor levels in any of the treatment groups.