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Background: This paper reports on a qualitative study which formed part of the intervention development phase of a five year research programme (Community pharmacy: Highlighting Alcohol use in Medication aPpointments; CHAMP-1)., Objectives: To better understand patient views on the appropriateness of alcohol as a subject for discussion in medication reviews in community pharmacy., Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 25 people eligible for medication reviews whose AUDIT-C screening scores identified them as likely risky drinkers. Transcripts were analysed using a modified framework method with a constructionist thematic analysis approach., Results: Most patients interviewed said they were open to the idea of a medication and alcohol linked discussion with a pharmacist if this was routine, well-conducted and confidential. Such a discussion was thought less personally relevant for those who viewed the proposed intervention through the prism of a particular set of ideas about the nature of alcohol problems, which distanced them from thinking about alcohol in terms of their everyday life and possible impacts on their health. Study findings attest to some of the sensitivities involved in discussion of alcohol, and the complexities inherent in helping people to talk about their own drinking, medicine use and health., Conclusions: Patients were open to the idea of discussing alcohol with community pharmacists in the context of a medicines review if this was sensitively done and the relevance was clear to them., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This pilot study evaluated a body image intervention for men, Body Project M. Seventy-four British undergraduate men took part in two 90-min intervention sessions, and completed standardised assessments of body image, bulimic pathology, and related outcomes at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Fifty-three other men completed the questionnaires as an assessment-only control group. Per-protocol analysis showed that Body Project M improved men's dissatisfaction with body fat and muscularity, body appreciation, muscularity enhancing behaviours, appearance comparisons, and internalization (ds=0.46-0.80) at post-intervention. All except dissatisfaction with muscularity and internalization were sustained at 3-month follow-up. No effects were found for bulimic pathology. Post-intervention effects for dissatisfaction with muscularity and internalization only were retained under intention-to-treat analysis. Participants were favourable towards the intervention. This study provides preliminary evidence for the acceptability and post-intervention efficacy of Body Project M. Further development of the intervention is required to improve and sustain effects., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) and metabolites as well as serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were determined in the caudate putamen (CPU) of either 6- or 12-month-old female rats using microdialysis and high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED) before, during, and after four consecutive injections (given at 2-h intervals) of methamphetamine (METH). In 6-month-old rats administered 4 x 5 mg/kg METH at an environmental temperature (ET) of 23 degrees C, peak extracellular DA levels (between 50 and 150 rho g/10 microliters) were attained 30-45 min after each dose of METH while dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) decreased steadily after the first doses of METH until it reached a plateau at 50% of control (550-700 pg/10 microliters) levels. Increases in 5-HT levels during METH administrations paralleled DA increases while 5-HIAA decreases paralleled DOPAC decreases. The total CPU DA and 5-HT content of these rats was about 65% of control at 3 days post-METH. Reducing the ET to 4 degrees C during dosing decreased the peak and average DA levels attained during the 4 x 5 mg/kg METH administration to about 50% of that observed at a 23 degrees C ET. Increasing the dose to 4 x 10 mg/kg METH (4 degrees C ET) increased peak and average CPU DA levels to 200% that observed during 4 x 5 mg/kg METH at a 23 degrees C ET. However, no significant decreases in total CPU DA content of any rats dosed with METH at a 4 degrees C ET were observed 3 days post-METH. In 12-month-old rats dosed with 4 x 5 mg/kg METH (23 degrees C ET), the peak and average extracellular DA levels were only 30-60% that of 6-month-old rats. However, the CPU DA content of older rats was significantly decreased both 3 (30% control) and 14 (60% control) days post-METH. In summary, METH toxicity may not be predicted solely by the extracellular levels of DA attained during METH administration; age and ET also greatly influence METH neurotoxicity.

Extracellular levels of dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and serotonin (5-HT) were assayed in the caudate of freely moving rats using microdialysis and high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC) to detect changes in their release. Dialysates were assayed at 20-minute intervals for four hours after an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of MDMA (10 mg/kg). In a separate study to determine MDMA effects on total caudate levels of the above neurochemicals, animals were injected IP with MDMA (10 mg/kg) and then sacrificed at 20, 60, 120 and 180 minutes after treatment. Brains were quickly removed, and caudate nuclei were dissected for neurochemical analysis using HPLC-EC. MDMA elicited an amphetamine-like increase in DA release, followed by an increase in DA content. DOPAC and HVA were both reduced in homogenate. 5-HT release was also increased, followed by a drop in caudate homogenate levels by three hours. DA extracellular content was 686% of control at 80 minutes; caudate homogenate levels were 122% at 120 minutes. 5-HT extracellular release was 123% at 20 minutes, then decreased thereafter. It is concluded that the acute effect of MDMA on caudate is at least as great on the DA as it is on the 5-HT system.

Initial excretion studies with orally administered [monoethyl-1-3H] DES demonstrated the feces to be the principal mode of elimination of DES in the C3H mouse. Metabolic studies with tritiated DES and/or [UL-14C] DES were performed with orally dosed C3H high (MTV+) and low (MTV-) titer MMTV female mice. Extraction and partitioning of the fecal radioactivity demonstrated 77 to 86% (n = 4) to be benzene soluble and the remainder H2O soluble. The principal product in the organic phase following Sephadex LH-20 and HPLC purification was DES. The aqueous phase was resolved by LH-20 into two conjugate fractions that were partially hydrolyzed by beta-glucuronidase. The principal aglycone was chromatographically identical with authentic DES. The urinary conjugates were resolved into six fractions. The four major fractions were 80% hydrolyzable with beta-glucuronidase. Two of these fractions had trans-DES as the principal aglycone, whereas the other two had a major peak similar to but not chromatographically coincident with cis-DES. In certain experiments mice were sequentially dosed with tritium (24 hr) followed by a 14C dose (24 hr). Two mice (MTV+) were also previously fed 1000 ppb DES prior to these experiments. The tritated and 14C products were combined and analyzed simultaneously. This experiment did not reveal significant differences in the metabolism due to the modes of radioactive labeling, MMTV titer, or the prior feeding of DES. The developed methodology was judged to purify quantitatively 90% or more of the DES radioactive products.

An effective and economical procedure is described to clean blending equipment repeatedly used to prepare dosed feed for animal bioassays. The cleanup procedure was evaluated with 2 types of blenders against 10 test chemicals with a broad spectrum of polarities by separately spiking the agents into feed at various levels. Analytical data illustrating the level of contamination at each interval of the multi-step cleanup procedure are presented for each test chemical. Analytical chemical methods and efficiencies of the cleaning steps with the feed admixtures are discussed. The procedure was tested and adopted for use at the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR).

The neurochemical effects of prenatal exposure to dopamine receptor antagonists are as yet poorly characterized. To further examine this problem, pregnant rats were given daily subcutaneous injections of vehicle, 2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg haloperidol over gestational days 6 through 20. Membrane binding of [3H]SCH-23390 (D1-specific) and [3H]spiroperidol (D2-specific in most brain areas) was measured in four regions of the cerebral dopamine system at postnatal day (PND) 30. Dopamine (DA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels were measured in caudate on PND 30 following a d-amphetamine challenge. Prenatal haloperidol exposure reduced [3H]SCH-23390 and [3H]spiroperidol binding in caudate in a dose-dependent manner. [3H]Spiroperidol binding was similarly reduced in nucleus accumbens, but only the low dose (2.5 mg/kg) group showed decreased [3H]SCH-23390 binding in this region. Binding of neither compound was significantly altered in amygdala or frontal cortex. Basal or drug-stimulated levels of caudate DA and DOPAC were unaltered. It is concluded that prenatal haloperidol exposure reduces D1 and D2 binding in some, but not all regions of the forebrain dopamine system.