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In January 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, was identified as the causative agent for pneumonia cases in the Hubei Province of China. By March 11, 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reached pandemic levels and had spread to nearly every continent. Due to an exponential growth of cases and high rate of hospital admission, patient volume rapidly exceeded capacity. To meet demand, physicians in Asia, Europe, and the United States, regardless of their specialty, were redeployed to COVID-19 units. Redeployment of physicians involves complex decisions, such as whom to reassign, where to reassign, and how to balance needs of frontline services with those of other critical services. Guidelines for these challenging decisions are scarce. To address this critical gap in policy, we present general recommendations for redeploying psychiatrists to the medical front lines. We address levels of preparedness, complexity of the medical settings, use of house staff, medical supervision, emotional support, risk management, back-filling psychiatric services, provider diversity, and ethical, legal, and regulatory challenges. Our guidelines are general and not intended to be “one size fits all,” as we recognize that local conditions will necessitate adaptation. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2020;50(7):301–305.]

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent condition associated with high rates of disability, as well as suicidal ideation and behavior. Current treatments for MDD have significant limitations in efficacy and side effect burden. FDA-approved devices for MDD are burdensome (due to repeated in-office procedures) and are most suitable for severely ill subjects. There is a critical need for device-based treatments in MDD that are efficacious, well-tolerated, and easy to use. In this paper, we review a novel neuromodulation strategy, transcranial photobiomodulation (t-PBM) with near-infrared light (NIR). The scope of our review includes the known biological mechanisms of t-PBM, as well as its efficacy in animal models of depression and in patients with MDD. Theoretically, t-PBM penetrates into the cerebral cortex, stimulating the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and also significantly increases cerebral blood flow. Animal and human studies, using a variety of t-PBM settings and experimental models, suggest that t-PBM may have significant efficacy and good tolerability in MDD. In aggregate, these data support the need for large confirmatory studies for t-PBM as a novel, likely safe, and easy-to-administer antidepressant treatment.

Background Recent data suggest that glial cells may be involved in the analgesic effects and abuse liability of opioids. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that mu-opioid-receptor-selective agonists, such as oxycodone, activate glia and increase the release of cytokines, causing a suppression of opioid-induced analgesic effects. Preclinical studies also show that certain medications, such as the broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic minocycline, inhibit opioid-induced glial activation and thereby enhance the analgesic effects of opioids. Importantly, minocycline reduces the rewarding effects of opioids at the same doses that it enhances opioid-induced analgesia. Aims The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of acute administration of minocycline on the subjective, physiological, and analgesic effects of oxycodone in human research volunteers. Design This study was a within-subject, randomized, double-blind outpatient study. Participants completed five separate sessions in which they received 0, 100, or 200 mg minocycline (MINO) simultaneously with either 0 or 40 mg oxycodone (OXY). The subjective, physiological, and analgesic effects of OXY were measured before and repeatedly after drug administration. Settings and participants Participants were between 21 and 45 years of age, non-treatment seeking, non-dependent recreational opioid users (N = 12). This study was conducted between 2013 and 2014 at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, NY. Findings MINO 100 and 200 mg were safe and well-tolerated in combination with OXY 40 mg. MINO 200 mg administered with OXY 40 mg attenuated OXY-induced positive subjective effects such as “Good Effect” and “Liking” compared to OXY alone. MINO did not alter the physiological or analgesic effects of OXY. Conclusions MINO may attenuate the abuse liability of mu-opioid-receptor-selective agonists.

Despite the prevalent worldwide abuse of stimulants, such as amphetamines and cocaine, no medications are currently approved for treating this serious public health problem. Both preclinical and clinical studies suggest that the opioid antagonist naltrexone (NTX) is effective in reducing the abuse liability of amphetamine, raising the question of whether similar positive findings would be obtained for cocaine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of oral NTX to alter the cardiovascular and subjective effects of D-amphetamine (D-AMPH) and cocaine (COC). Non-treatment-seeking COC users (N=12) completed this 3-week inpatient, randomized, crossover study. Participants received 0, 12.5, or 50 mg oral NTX 60 min before active or placebo stimulant administration during 10 separate laboratory sessions. Oral AMPH (0, 10, and 20 mg; or all placebo) was administered in ascending order within a laboratory session using a 60-min interdose interval. Smoked COC (0, 12.5, 25, and 50 mg; or all placebo) was administered in ascending order within a laboratory session using a 14-min interdose interval. Active COC and AMPH produced dose-related increases in cardiovascular function that were of comparable magnitude. In contrast, COC, but not AMPH, produced dose-related increases in several subjective measures of positive drug effect (eg, high, liking, and willingness to pay for the drug). NTX did not alter the cardiovascular effects of AMPH or COC. NTX also did not alter positive subjective ratings after COC administration, but it did significantly reduce ratings of craving for COC and tobacco during COC sessions. These results show that (1) oral AMPH produces minimal abuse-related subjective responses in COC smokers, and (2) NTX reduces craving for COC and tobacco during COC sessions. Future studies should continue to evaluate NTX as a potential anti-craving medication for COC dependence.

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is beginning to attract attention as a possible target for cocaine abuse treatment because of its role in metabolizing cocaine.The purpose of this analysis was to assess whether endogenous BChE levels are associated with the subjective effects of cocaine.Data from 28 participants in five inpatient cocaine self-administration studies were included in the present analysis. Four minutes after each smoked cocaine dose, participants rated their drug-related effects from 0-100 using a computerized self-report Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The main outcome measures were nine change-in-VAS ratings between a baseline placebo dose and a 25-mg smoked cocaine dose.After controlling for age, sex, total years of cocaine use, total milligrams of cocaine administered before the 25-mg dose being analyzed, and baseline diastolic blood pressure, endogenous BChE was not significantly associated with any of the nine change-in-VAS ratings.Though BChE appears to be a possible target for cocaine abuse treatment, these data suggest that endogenous levels of BChE may not play a role in modifying the subjective effects of cocaine. Future larger studies of BChE in respect to the subjective effects produced by cocaine are needed to confirm or refute these findings.