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Amphetamines (AMPs) in hair were investigated with thousands of workplace testing head and body hair samples collected and analyzed over 10 years and tabulated by year. All samples were washed by a published extensive method prior to confirmation by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry. Presented are concentrations of parent methamphetamine (METH), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methylenedioxyamphetamine as metabolite and AMP as metabolite and without the presence of parent drug. Some differences in METH concentrations from year to year were significant, and some ratios of metabolite to parent drug for both METH and MDMA also varied significantly. While rates of METH use may not have changed significantly, some aspects of the drugs ingested as demonstrated by hair analysis varied over the 10-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN) and (-)-11-nor-9-carboxy-∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) were determined in 4,773 hair samples. Confirmation of THC-COOH was by GC–MS-MS (gas chromatography--mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry). Confirmation of THC, THCV, CBN and CBD was by LC–MS-MS (liquid chromatoraphy--mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry) on an AB Sciex QTRAP 6500+ LC–MS-MS. The purpose of this work was not to utilize any analyte other than THC-COOH as indicative of ingestion, but to assess the absence or presence, and relative concentrations, of the other cannabinoid analytes in hair of marijuana users vs. primarily CBD users. In this regard, 10% of samples contained significantly higher concentrations of CBD relative to THC than the other 90%. A concentration of CBD that is five times greater than that of THC was proposed as good evidence of primarily CBD ingestion. THC concentrations in the samples ranged from below the limit of detection (5 pg/mg) to 47,808 pg/mg hair, varying widely in the relationship between parent THC and the metabolite THC-COOH. CBN was present in most samples, but concentrations relative to THC decreased with increasing THC concentrations. Only 26% of the samples contained THCV detectable by the method. When present, THCV concentrations averaged 1.77% of THC. A limitation of this study is the lack of subject histories to determine the types and amounts of products used and the mode of ingestion. Also, not all THC from external contamination may be removed. Nonetheless, the data provide a useful guide as to what cannabinoids may be found in hair, at what concentrations and under conditions of marijuana use vs. likely primarily CBD use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opioids are widely prescribed pain medications that have the potential for misuse and abuse. As part of a routine procedure, our laboratory frequently encounters questions from clients/Medical Review Officers (MROs) regarding opioid hair concentrations in relation to the amount of opioid taken as part of a prescription. In this manuscript, we have analyzed a large number of real-world examples of opioid hair concentrations following self-reported consumption of an opioid prescription regimen. This dataset provides a reference point of opioid hair concentrations after an extensive aqueous wash that likely correspond to consumption of an opioid prescription regimen. Practitioners in the field could use this reference to make decisions on the opioid concentration of a hair sample in relation to a client-provided prescription., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

To evaluate rates of breast milk feeding among infants with cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL ± P) enrolled in Medicaid compared to Private Insurance/Self-Pay., This was a population-based retrospective cohort study., The 2018 US National Vital Statistics System-Natality component (NVSS-N) was used to examine nationwide birth certificate data., Infants with cleft lip with or without cleft palate and either Medicaid or Private Insurance/Self-Pay were included., Breast milk feeding rates among infants with CL ± P, as a function of insurance status., Chi-square tests of independence revealed that of 896 infants with CL ± P and insured by Medicaid, 527 (58.8%) were breast milk fed at discharge. Of 865 infants with CL ± P and insured by Private Insurance/Self-Pay, 621 (71.8%) were breast milk fed at discharge. Using logistic regression models and controlling for baseline demographic differences, results indicated that infants with CL ± P in the Medicaid group had reduced odds of breast milk feeding compared to the Private Insurance/Self-Pay group (OR = 0.08; 95% CI 0.56, 0.96)., Breast milk support services are often necessary for the initiation of breast milk feeding among infants with CL ± P. However, these resources are likely not as readily available for those enrolled in Medicaid. These results suggest that infants with CL ± P, enrolled in Medicaid, may experience reduced breast milk feeding rates due to limited resources to initiate breast milk feeding. Factors that may promote breast milk feeding among this population are discussed.

Heroin addiction is a wide-reaching problem with a spectrum of damaging social consequences. Currently approved heroin addiction medications include drugs that bind at the same receptors (e.g. opioid receptors) occupied by heroin and/or its metabolites in the brain, but undesired side effects of these treatments, maintenance dependence and relapse to drug taking remains problematic. A vaccine capable of blocking heroin's effects could provide an economical, long-lasting and sustainable adjunct to heroin addiction therapy without the side effects associated with available treatment options. Heroin, however, presents a particularly challenging vaccine target as it is metabolized to multiple psychoactive molecules of differing lipophilicity, with differing abilities to cross the blood brain barrier. In this review, we discuss the opiate scaffolding and hapten design considerations to confer immunogenicity as well as the specificity of the immune response towards structurally similar opiates. In addition, we detail different strategies employed in the design of immunoconjugates for a vaccine-based therapy for heroin addiction treatment.

The occurrence of vascular basophilia in ocular tumors has been a selective histologic feature of retinoblastomas. We recently observed a metastatic oat-cell carcinoma to the choroid which also demonstrated such a vascular hematoxyphilia. Histologic review of a variety of ocular and orbital metastatic carcinomas failed to yield a similar basophilic pattern. Examination of 100 consecutive retinoblastomas for vascular basophilia revealed an incidence of 6.0%. Similar material was not seen in any of 125 melanomas, including 10 with areas of necrosis. Histochemical studies showed the basophilic material to be DNA, and electron microscopy revealed the nuclear debris of pyknotic tumor cells to be continuous with identical material surrounding the adjacent blood vessels. The pathogenesis of vascular deposition of DNA in these two ocular tumors remains unclear. This finding most likely represents a form of tumor activity requiring comparatively healthy blood vessels to adequately precipitate liberated nucleic acids being filtered from the necrotic and degenerating tumor tissue.

A 40-year-old woman took oral contraceptives for four years. She developed a vascular glaucoma and one year later the eye was enucleated. No other apparent cause for the occlusion was present. The vascular occlusion consisted of a combined central retinal artery and vein occlusion with severe intimal hyperplasia. An intravascular granulomatous reaction is attributed to chronic vascular injury.

Newborn mice were injected with monosodium glutamate (MSG), and behavioral testing and physical development in neonatal, juvenile, adult, and aged mice were observed by means of a battery of appropriate tests. Early exposure to MSG resulted in altered behavioral performances postnatally, which were transitory and reflected the neurotoxicity of the chemical. Although behavioral deficits were not observed in mice neonatally treated with MSG at 1 month of age, a definite decline was manifested at 12 months and 34 months of age.

A fungal corneal infection occurred in a 66-year-old man who wore a therapeutic soft contact lens for 12 months during treatment for a metaherpetic corneal epithelial erosion. The infection was documented by finding positive cultures from both the contact lens and the cornea, and histologic evidence of fungal infiltration of the therapeutic soft lens. The fungus was identified as Cephalosporium acremonium. Pathogenic fungal invasion of soft lenses is unusual. Corneal infections associated with such conditions are rare. This case demonstrates histologically, a pathogenic fungal corneal infection arising from therapeutic contact lens wear. Factors that may influence soft lens infiltration by fungi are: (1) enzymatic activity produced by the fungus, and (2) lens material properties which provide a matrix and a nutrient source for fungal growth. Continuous-wear soft contact lens treatment with topical steroid and prophylactic antibiotics used in combination in an already compromised cornea were thought to be responsible in an already compromised cornea were thought to be responsible for this complication. A therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty was performed when the infection and its accompanying inflammation became clinically unresponsive to multifold therapy, and a corneal perforation was imminent. The eye was salvaged with a resulting clear graft and stable intraocular pressures.