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This thesis will address the mechanisms underlying amphetamine addiction, as well as the psychosis that may develop with amphetamine use.

O uso de drogas estimulantes por motoristas é reconhecidamente responsável por um aumento significativo na quantidade de acidentes nas estradas e rodovias. A própria exigência do trabalho muitas vezes acaba direcionando-os para a busca de algo que lhes proporcione maior estado de vigília e atenção nas estradas. Com base na importante correlação entre a profissão e o uso de substâncias anfetamínicas, foi proposta uma metodologia analítica para a determinação de anfetamina, metanfetamina, 3,4 metilenodioxianfetamina, 3,4 metilenodioximetanfetamina e 3,4 metilenodioxietilanfetamina em amostras de saliva através de técnica de extração líquido-líquido e análise por cromatografia em fase gasosa acoplada a espectrometria de massas (GC-MS). Para o desenvolvimento do método foi utilizado 1 mL de saliva, extração líquido-líquido com o solvente acetato de etila, derivatização com anidrido heptafluorobutírico (HFBA) e detecção com GC-MS. A metodologia foi validada e demonstrou linearidade de 10 a 400 ng/mL de saliva para todos os compostos. Os limites de detecção estabelecidos se encontraram entre 2,5 ng/mL e 7,5 ng/mL, enquanto os de quantificação foram de 10 ng/mL para todos os compostos. A exatidão apresentou valores entre 93,8% e 108,3%, a precisão intra-ensaio valores entre 4,05% e 9,34% e a precisão inter-ensaio valores entre 5,28% e 9,90%. A metodologia validada foi aplicada em amostras de saliva de caminhoneiros que trafegavam na região da cidade de Roseira SP em um evento de atendimento ao público promovido pela Sest/Senat (Serviço Social do Transporte/ Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem do Transporte) em parceria com a Polícia Rodoviária Federal. Duas amostras de saliva de um total de 40 amostras analisadas apresentaram resultado positivo para anfetamina. / The use of stimulants by professional drivers is known as an increasing risk of accidents on the roads. The type of work itself induces the drivers to look out for something that provides better state of alertness and reduced sleep. Based on this important correlation between the occupation and use of stimulants, an analytical methodology was proposed for the determination of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and their methylenedioxy derivatives 3,4 methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine and 3,4 methylenedioxyethylamphetamine on oral fluid samples using solvent extraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrum for detection and quantification of these analytes. The developed methodology used 1 mL of oral fluid, liquid-liquid extraction, heptafluorobutyric anhydride and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the detection and quantification. The methodology was validated and showed good linearity within the limits of 10 ng/mL and 400 ng/mL of oral fluid. The limits of detection were between 2.5 ng/mL and 7.5 ng/mL, while the limits of quantification were 10 ng/mL for all analytes. The accuracy showed values between 93.8% e 108.3%, the intra-assay precision between 4.05% e 9.34% and the inter-assay precision between 5.28% e 9.90%. The validated methodology was tested in oral fluid samples collected from truck drivers near the city of Roseira São Paulo during an event of health assistance fomented by SEST/SENAT in partnership with Federal Police. It was collected 40 saliva samples and two of them presented positive result for amphetamine.

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No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 109 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-109).

A series of experiments was carried out to clarify the effects of morphine (0.3 - 10 mg/kg) on intracranial self-stimulation (ICS) and to compare these with the effects of the stimulant amphetamine on this behavior. It was shown that the enhancement of ICS by morphine requires repeated drug exposure, is prevented by pre-exposure to the drug in a non-ICS context, is mimicked by administration of vehicle, and is not reliably reversed by naloxone. In contrast, facilitation of ICS by amphetamine was immediate and remained stable over repeated days of testing. It was concluded that ICS facilitation induced by morphine, but not by amphetamine, is largely the outcome of a learned association between the drug effect and the ICS procedure, and does not appear to be a direct, opiate receptor-mediated effect. Finally, 6-OHDA lesions of ventral tegmental dopamine neurons were shown to block the facilitation of ICS by morphine but not by amphetamine. These lesions were also shown to delay the development of tolerance to morphine-induced catalepsy.

This study examined the contributions of different brain areas to several of the behavior effects of amphetamine. The drug was micro-injected into each of six discreet brain sites in rats and the effects on behavior were examined. Amphetamine's rewarding effects were studied using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Animals that had received injections into the nucleus accumbens showed a CPP, suggesting a rewarding effect of the drug. No effect was produced by injections into the medial frontal cortex, medial or lateral parts of the caudate nucleus, amygdala or the region around the area postrema. A conditioned taste aversion (CTA) towards a flavour that had been paired with the drug was produced by injections into the region around the area postrema, but not from the other sites. Anorexia and adipsia were both producted only by injections into the nucleus accumbens and amygdala. In the open field, increased activity was produced by intra-accumbens amphetamine injections, with smaller effects from the medial frontal cortex and medial caudate. Stereotyped behavior was not produced by any intra-cranial injection. The CPP, anorexia, adipsia and increase in activity that were produced by the intra-accumbens injections were interpreted as suggesting that the drug had stimulated approach behavior towards all stimuli, as if they had all become rewarding. The observation of a CPP from the accumbens and a CTA from the region around the area postrema suggests that the rewarding and apparently aversive effects of systemically injected amphetamine result from actions of the drug on different neuroanatomical substrates. Other hypotheses of the behavioral function of the neural substrates of the observed effects are presented.

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No description available.