Telemedicine Buprenorphine Access For Incarcerated People: Lessons Learned From Maryland's Rural Jails.

The promise of telemedicine to expand access to buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) within carceral settings is substantial, offering a lifeline to a population disproportionately affected by the opioid crisis. Our experience launching and managing a telemedicine-based buprenorphine treatment program in Maryland jails, however, has been a stark reminder of an adage in correctional health: "If you've worked in one jail, you've only worked in one jail." Each correctional facility presents a unique constellation of operational, cultural, and logistical challenges that shape the implementation and success of any new initiative, particularly one as sensitive as medications for OUD (MOUD).

Ketamine to enhance methadone treatment retention in patients with opioid use disorder and co-morbid depression.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic relapsing condition with a high mortality rate. While medications such as methadone are valuable first-line therapies, retention is poor, with the highest dropout rates early in a treatment attempt. Poor outcomes are due in part to the very high rates of co-morbid depression in people with OUD, as depression can drive opioid use.

Provider Perspectives on Medication for AUD in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Clinics.

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is comorbid with major mental illnesses, but prescribing rates for medications for AUD (mAUD) are low. We surveyed 71 mental health and 42 substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers in an academic medical center about AUD treatment practices. Fifty-three mental health and 14 SUD providers responded.

Hepatitis C cure and medications for opioid use disorder improve health-related quality of life in patients with opioid use disorder actively engaged in substance use.

Background: This study aims to determine whether Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment improves health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) actively engaged in substance use, and which variables are associated with improving HRQL in patients with OUD during HCV treatment.

Methods: Data are from a prospective, open-label, observational study of 198 patients with OUD or opioid misuse within 1 year of study enrollment who received HCV treatment with the primary endpoint of Sustained Virologic Response (SVR). HRQL was assessed using the Hepatitis C Virus Patient Reported Outcomes (HCV-PRO) survey, with higher scores denoting better HRQL.

Practical Considerations for Treating Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Addictions Clinic: Approaches to Clinical Care, Leadership, and Alleviating Shame.

A practical, common-sense framework for recognizing and addressing comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the substance use disorder (SUD) clinic is outlined. The article focuses on strategies that can help establish trauma-informed care or augment an existing approach. Interventions are organized around the task of ameliorating shame (or shame sensitivity), which represents a transdiagnostic mediator of psychopathology and, potentially, capacity for change.

Spicing things up: synthetic cannabinoids.

Rationale: Recently, products containing synthetic cannabinoids, collectively referred to as Spice, are increasingly being used recreationally.

Objectives: The availability, acute subjective effects-including self-reports posted on Erowid-laboratory detection, addictive potential, and regulatory challenges of the Spice phenomenon are reviewed.

Results: Spice is sold under the guise of potpourri or incense.

Hsp27 inhibits sublethal, Src-mediated renal epithelial cell injury.

Disruption of cell contact sites in renal epithelial cells contributes to organ dysfunction after ischemia. We hypothesized that heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27), a known cytoprotectant protein, preserves cell architecture and cell contact site function during ischemic stress. To test this hypothesis, renal epithelial cells were subjected to transient ATP depletion, an in vitro model of ischemia-reperfusion injury.