Abstract.
Psychotropic Drugs

In recent years, as the third-generation of drugs, new psychoactive substances （NPS） have expanded rapidly and become a serious concern for China's anti-drug prevention and control system. As a new drug monitoring technology in the current anti-drug field, wastewater analysis is an objective, real-time, accurate, convenient and effective drug monitoring method. In recent years, it has gradually been applied to the monitoring of NPS. This study summarizes wastewater sample collection, target stability research, wastewater sample pretreatment, wastewater sample analysis methods, target NPS consumption calculations and actual monitoring applications, with a view to the construction of a monitoring system for NPS in wastewater, real-time and accurate grasp of information on the use of NPS in cities, the reflection of the actual consumption of different types of NPS and consumption trends in a short period of time, and prediction of the development trend of abused use, which is of great significance for combating NPS crimes, serving and guaranteeing the personal safety of the people, and maintaining social stability.
China ; Cities ; Illicit Drugs/analysis* ; Psychotropic Drugs/analysis* ; Wastewater/analysis* ; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*

Objective To establish an ion chromatography method for the salt form determination of new psychoactive substances （NPS）. Methods The method of conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis of six types of organic acid ions （acetate ion, tartrate ion, maleate ion, oxalate ion, fumarate ion, citrate ion） and five types of inorganic anions （fluoride ion, chloride ion, nitrate ion, sulfate ion, phosphate ion） in NPS sample by ion chromatography was developed. The salt forms of 222 seized NPS samples （103 samples with synthetic cannabinoids, 81 samples with cathinones, 44 samples with phenylethylamines, 12 samples with tryptamines, 7 samples with phencyclidines, 6 samples with piperazines, 2 samples with aminoindenes, 26 samples with fentanyls and 43 samples with other types of NPS） were analyzed by this method. Results Each anion had good linearity in the corresponding linear range, the correlation coefficients （r） were greater than 0.999, the limits of detection were 0.01-0.05 mg/L, and the limits of quantitative were 0.1-0.5 mg/L. Except that 5F-BEPIRAPIM was hydrochloride, the salt forms of the other 102 synthetic cannabinoids were all base. The salt form of 81 cathinone samples, 44 phenylethylamine samples, 7 phencyclidine samples and 2 aminoindene samples were all hydrochloride. The salt forms of tryptamine samples included base, hydrochloride, fumarate and oxalate. The salt forms of piperazine samples included base and hydrochloride. The salt forms of fentanyl samples and samples of other types included base, hydrochloride and citrate. Conclusion Ion chromatography is a simple, accurate and efficient method for determining the salt form of NPS samples, which makes the qualitative and quantitative conclusions of NPS more scientific and rigorous.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Ions ; Psychotropic Drugs/chemistry*

Anesthetics, Local ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Central Nervous System ; drug effects ; Ethyl Chloride ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Male ; Medical History Taking ; Neurologic Examination ; Patient Care Management ; methods ; Psychotropic Drugs ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Substance-Related Disorders ; etiology ; physiopathology ; psychology ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome ; Volatilization ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This study was to determine the levels of environmental stressor, posttraumatic stress disorder, and quality of life in intensive care units (ICU) survivors after intensive care, and to explore the factors affecting posttraumatic stress disorder and quality of life.METHODS: With a longitudinal survey design, data were collected from 116 patients who were discharged from the ICU of a university hospital. The environmental stressor, posttraumatic stress disorder, and quality of life were measured immediately following and 1 month after the ICU discharge.RESULTS: Of all the subjects, 16.4% experienced posttraumatic stress disorder after discharge. Multiple regression analysis revealed that ICU environmental stressors, experience of ICU readmission, using psychotropic drugs and narcotic analgesics, and ICU admission after surgery or cardiac intervention accounted for 22.2% of posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder and sedation status when entering ICU accounted for 28.3% of the quality of life 1 month after ICU discharge.CONCLUSION: Nursing interventions focused on ICU environmental stressors would not only reduce environmental stress but also contribute to the reduction of posttraumatic stress disorder and later improvement of quality of life.
Critical Care ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Longitudinal Studies ; Narcotics ; Nursing ; Psychotropic Drugs ; Quality of Life ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Survivors

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the serum hepcidin levels in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients that were newly diagnosed with no history of psychotropic drugs. METHODS: A total of 70 ADHD patients and 69 healthy controls were enrolled in our study. During the diagnosis, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version were applied. The sociodemographic data form, Turgay DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale, and Conners’ Rating Scales-Revised: Long Form were used for the clinical evaluation. Serum hepcidin levels were measured and compared between the groups. RESULTS: No significant difference between the groups in terms of age (p=0.533) and gender (p=0.397) was determined. In addition, the groups did not differ significantly for the other sociodemographic variables recorded. Serum hepcidin levels were found to be significantly higher in the patients with ADHD than healthy controls (p=0.019). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate the total serum hepcidin levels in ADHD patients. Our study findings may suggest that high levels of hepcidin may cause iron dysregulation in ADHD patients. However, further studies are required to establish a definite conclusion.
Adolescent Behavior ; Adolescent ; Appointments and Schedules ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Hepcidins ; Humans ; Iron ; Mass Screening ; Mood Disorders ; Psychotropic Drugs ; Schizophrenia

Objective To establish a method to identify unknown samples based on combined use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）, high resolution mass spectrometry （HRMS） and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum （NMR） technique. Methods The unknown samples were dissolved in methanol solution containing internal standard SKF525A and detected by GC-MS and HRMS. The mixed samples were separated and purified by silica gel column chromatography, and then dissolved in methanol-d4 solution for structural analysis of ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy （¹H NMR）. Results The characteristic fragment ions （m/z） were 86.1 （base peak）, 71.2, 121.1, and 149.0, and the accurate mass number of molecular ion peak was measured by HRMS to be 236.128 89. By combined use of data analysis and database comparison, a new psychoactive substance of the cathinone class, Dibutylone, was detected in the sample, and the sample also contained a small amount of caffeine. The sample was purified, then identified using ¹H NMR, and was further confirmed to be Dibutylone. In addition, the GC-MS retention time and characteristic fragment ions of the main components of the sample were consistent with those of Dibutylone reference material. Conclusion The method established in this study can be used for the identification of Dibutylone in mixed samples.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Mass Spectrometry ; N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/isolation & purification* ; Psychotropic Drugs/chemistry*

Aged ; Delusional Parasitosis ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; psychology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Psychotropic Drugs ; administration & dosage ; Pyrimidines ; administration & dosage ; Retrospective Studies ; Risperidone ; administration & dosage ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Symptom Assessment ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to provide clinical consensus and evidence regarding initial treatment strategies for the pharmacological treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in Korea. METHODS: We prepared a questionnaire to derive a consensus from clinicians regarding their preference for the pharmacological treatment of SAD in Korea. Data regarding medication regimens and psychotropic drugs used during initial treatment, the doses used, and the pharmacological treatment duration were obtained. Responses were obtained from 66 SAD experts, and their opinions were classified into three categories (first-line, second-line, third-line) using a chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Clinicians agreed upon first-line regimens for SAD involving monotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine, or combined therapy using antidepressants with betablockers or benzodiazepines on a standing or as-needed basis. First-line psychotropic drug choices for initial treatment included the following: escitalopram, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, and propranolol. The medication dosage used by domestic clinicians was found to be comparable with foreign guidelines. Domestic clinicians tended to make treatment decisions in a shorter amount of time and preferred a similar duration of maintenance treatment for SAD when compared with foreign clinicians. CONCLUSION: This study may provide significant information for developing SAD pharmacotherapy guidelines in Korea, especially in the early stage of treatment.
Antidepressive Agents ; Anxiety Disorders ; Anxiety ; Benzodiazepines ; Citalopram ; Consensus ; Drug Therapy ; Korea ; Paroxetine ; Propranolol ; Psychotropic Drugs ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors ; Sertraline ; Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) greatly contributed to the successful outcomes of prevention and control on both AIDS and drug abuse in China. However, the features on drug abuse changed in the past decades, and the prevalence of new psychoactive substances abuse potentially somehow offset the achievement of MMT. This paper concised the information on research and surveys of this issue that targeting on the current situation, characteristics, related factors and relevant public health problem on new psychoactive substances abuse, among patients who have been on MMT, in China.
Adult ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methadone/therapeutic use* ; Opiate Substitution Treatment ; Prevalence ; Psychotropic Drugs/adverse effects* ; Substance Abuse Treatment Centers ; Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires