Agreement between self-reported illicit drug use and biological samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Studies often rely upon self-report and biological testing methods for measuring illicit drug use, although evidence for their agreement is limited to specific populations and self-report instruments. We aimed to examine comprehensively the evidence for agreement between self-reported and biologically measured illicit drug use among all major illicit drug classes, biological indicators, populations and settings.

Methods: We systematically searched peer-reviewed databases (Medline, Embase and PsycINFO) and grey literature.

Mifepristone (RU-486) as a Schedule IV Controlled Drug-Implications for a Misleading Drug Policy on Women's Health Care.

Background: Mifepristone (RU-486) has been approved for abortion in Taiwan since 2000. Mifepristone was the first non-addictive medicine to be classified as a schedule IV controlled drug. As a case of the "misuse" of "misuse of drugs laws," the policy and consequences of mifepristone-assisted abortion for pregnant women could be compared with those of illicit drug use for drug addicts.

Pharmaceutical Assessment Suggests Locomotion Hyperactivity in Zebrafish Triggered by Arecoline Might Be Associated with Multiple Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors Activation.

Arecoline is one of the nicotinic acid-based alkaloids, which is found in the betel nut. In addition to its function as a muscarinic agonist, arecoline exhibits several adverse effects, such as inducing growth retardation and causing developmental defects in animal embryos, including zebrafish, chicken, and mice. In this study, we aimed to study the potential adverse effects of waterborne arecoline exposure on zebrafish larvae locomotor activity and investigate the possible mechanism of the arecoline effects in zebrafish behavior.

New psychoactive substances in Taiwan: The current situation and initiative for rational scheduling.

Use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) has posed a global threat to public health and the security of the population. As of December 2019, the NPS items identified in total have outnumbered by three to one the controlled substances listed in the 1961 and 1971 UN Drug Conventions. However, most of these NPS have not been scheduled by the United Nations because of their easy modification on the chemical structures to shun control.

New psychoactive substances in Taiwan: challenges and strategies.

Purpose Of Review: Abuse of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has been a new global concern. So far, there has been no international consensus on legislative control of NPS. Scrutiny of Taiwan's illegal drug use history reveals that legislation and policy play an important role in tackling the drug issues.

Comparison of legislative management for new psychoactive substances control among Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

For decades, the three United Nations drug conventions have served as the basis for member states' obligations and international cooperation on drug control. However, the emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) poses a new risk to public health and a challenge to drug policy because of their unknown toxicological effects and easy modification of chemical structures to shun legal control. So far, there is no international consensus on legislative control of NPSs.

HIV risk and the association with accessibility coverage to medical facilities and socioeconomic status among heroin users in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2011-2015): A GIS approach.

Illegal drug use has caused considerable health and social costs. Access to medical treatment has been one of the most cost-effective interventions to reduce problematic drug use. Accessibility to treatment, which can be analyzed by the spatial approach such as geographic information system (GIS), has thus been utilized as a measure of the proportion of population that reaches appropriate health services.

New psychoactive substances of natural origin: A brief review.

Plant-based drugs of abuse are as old as recorded human history. Although traditional addictive substances, such as opium, cannabis and coca, have been controlled by the United Nations anti-drug conventions, many, if not most, natural plants with addictive or abuse liability remain elusive. Therefore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned the emerging threat from new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are mostly derived or modified from the constituents of natural origin.

Immunomodulatory Effects of Taiwanese Species on Th1 and Th2 Functionality.

species, medicinal plants belonging to Lauraceae, contain rich alkaloids, steroids, sesquiterpenoids, and triterpenoids which possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory bioactivities. However, species differences in the immunomodulatory effects and evidence pertaining to the effects of species on adaptive immunity are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of ten Taiwanese plants on T helper (Th) cell functionality, especially Th1 and Th2.

Prevalence of new psychoactive substances in Northeast Asia from 2007 to 2015.

The proliferation of new psychoactive substances (NPS) has been a global trend in drug abuse and its regulation has been a worldwide concern. There is no doubt that it is necessary to share information related to these emerging substances between countries and continents for the effective regulation of NPS. With efforts for the efficient regulation of NPS, many studies and information have been published for the prevalence of NPS in the United States and other countries in Europe and Oceania.

Illegal use patterns, side effects, and analytical methods of ketamine.

In Asian countries, such as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, ketamine (KT) is one of the most prevalent illicit use drugs. KT is regulated by various drug-related laws in many countries, such as Korea, Taiwan, China, U.S.

Comparison of illegal drug use pattern in Taiwan and Korea from 2006 to 2014.

Background: Illegal drug use has long been a global concern. Taiwan and Korea are geographically adjacent and both countries have experienced the illegal use problems of methamphetamine, a predominant prototype of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). NPS, a term coined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in recent years, have not been scrutinized for their safety and may become a new threat to public health and security worldwide.

Identification of 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucopyranoside as a Glycine N-Methyltransferase Enhancer by High-Throughput Screening of Natural Products Inhibits Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) expression is vastly downregulated in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). High rates of GNMT knockout mice developed HCC, while overexpression of GNMT prevented aflatoxin-induced carcinogenicity and inhibited liver cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, in this study, we aimed for the identification of a GNMT inducer for HCC therapy.

Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Deuterium-Labeled Antidiabetic Chalcones: Studies towards the Selective Deuteration of the Alkynone Core.

Flow chemistry-based syntheses of deuterium-labeled analogs of important antidiabetic chalcones were achieved via highly controlled partial C≡C bond deuteration of the corresponding 1,3-diphenylalkynones. The benefits of a scalable continuous process in combination with on-demand electrolytic D2 gas generation were exploited to suppress undesired over-reactions and to maximize reaction rates simultaneously. The novel deuterium-containing chalcone derivatives may have interesting biological effects and improved metabolic properties as compared with the parent compounds.

Following "the Roots" of Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa): The Evolution of an Enhancer from a Traditional Use to Increase Work and Productivity in Southeast Asia to a Recreational Psychoactive Drug in Western Countries.

The use of substances to enhance human abilities is a constant and cross-cultural feature in the evolution of humanity. Although much has changed over time, the availability on the Internet, often supported by misleading marketing strategies, has made their use even more likely and risky. This paper will explore the case of Mitragyna speciosa Korth.

Dual dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for determination of phenylpropenes in oils by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A novel, simple and quick sample preparation method was developed and used for pre-concentration and extraction of six phenylpropenes, including anethole, estragole, eugenol, methyl eugenol, safrole and myristicin, from oil samples by dual dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for determination and separation of compounds. Several experimental parameters affecting extraction efficiency were evaluated and optimized, including forward-extractant type and volume, surfactant type and concentration, water volume, and back-extractant type and volume.

Chemical constituents derived from Artocarpus xanthocarpus as inhibitors of melanin biosynthesis.

Twenty-four compounds, including the previously unknown artoxanthocarpuone A, artoxanthocarpuone B, hydroxylakoochin A, methoxylakoochin A, epoxylakoochin A, and artoxanthol, were isolated and characterized spectroscopically. Among them, artoxanthol is stilbene oligomer presumably constructed in a 5,11,12-triphenyl hexahydrochrysene scaffold by a Diels-Alder type of reaction, for which a biosynthetic pathway is proposed. Artoxanthol, alboctalol, steppogenin, norartocarpetin, resveratrol, oxyresveratrol, and chlorophorin potently inhibited mushroom tyrosinase activity with IC50 values from 0.

Developing a QSAR model for hepatotoxicity screening of the active compounds in traditional Chinese medicines.

The perception that natural substances are deemed safe has made traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) popular in the treatment and prevention of disease globally. However, such an assumption is often misleading owing to a lack of scientific validation. To assess the safety of TCM, in silico screening provides major advantages over the classical laboratory approaches in terms of resource- and time-saving and full reproducibility.

Harm reduction.

The "Harm Reduction" session was chaired by Dr. Jacques Normand, Director of the AIDS Research Program of the U.S.

Quantitative determination of salvinorin A, a natural hallucinogen with abuse liability, in Internet-available Salvia divinorum and endemic species of Salvia in Taiwan.

In recent years, recreational use of Salvia divinorum (Lamiaceae), a herbal drug that contains a hallucinogenic ingredient, salvinorin A, has become a new phenomenon among young drug users. In Taiwan, as in many other countries, dry leaves of S. divinorum and its related concentrated extract products are available via the Internet.

TIPdb-3D: the three-dimensional structure database of phytochemicals from Taiwan indigenous plants.

The rich indigenous and endemic plants in Taiwan serve as a resourceful bank for biologically active phytochemicals. Based on our TIPdb database curating bioactive phytochemicals from Taiwan indigenous plants, this study presents a three-dimensional (3D) chemical structure database named TIPdb-3D to support the discovery of novel pharmacologically active compounds. The Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF94) was used to generate 3D structures of phytochemicals in TIPdb.

Moving toward personalized medicine in the methadone maintenance treatment program: a pilot study on the evaluation of treatment responses in Taiwan.

This pilot study simultaneously evaluated the effects of various factors, including genetic variations of CYP2B6, CYP2C19, and ABCB1, demographic characteristics, disease states, methadone-drug interactions (MDIs), and poly-substance use, on the treatment responses among non-HIV patients in the methadone maintenance treatment program (MMTP) in Taiwan. A total of 178 patients were recruited from two major hospitals that provided MMTP services in southern Taiwan, and information regarding concomitant medications and diseases was acquired from the National Health Insurance (NHI) program. The results demonstrated that the methadone maintenance dose, CYP2B6 785G allele, and ABCB1 2677T allele have positive effects on the methadone plasma concentration.

Phototoxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles in HaCaT keratinocytes-generation of oxidative DNA damage during UVA and visible light irradiation.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnO) are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials in industrial products including paints, cosmetics, and medical materials. Since ZnO is a well-known photocatalyst, it is important to further study if nano-ZnO cause phototoxic effect on skin cells under UVA-irradiation and visible light illumination. Human-derived keratinocytes (HaCaT) were treated with 1-20 microg/mL of nano-ZnO (< 50 nm) and then exposed to UVA (0.

TIPdb: a database of anticancer, antiplatelet, and antituberculosis phytochemicals from indigenous plants in Taiwan.

The unique geographic features of Taiwan are attributed to the rich indigenous and endemic plant species in Taiwan. These plants serve as resourceful bank for biologically active phytochemicals. Given that these plant-derived chemicals are prototypes of potential drugs for diseases, databases connecting the chemical structures and pharmacological activities may facilitate drug development.