It has long been known that individuals will engage in voluntary inhalation of volatile solvents for their rewarding effects. However, research into the neurobiology of these agents has lagged behind that of more commonly used drugs of abuse such as psychostimulants, alcohol and nicotine. This imbalance has begun to shift in recent years as the serious effects of abused inhalants, especially am...

A cross-sectional study was carried out with the purpose of validating seven life skills scales reported in the literature as related to drug-abuse prevention, and which identify differences between these skills among non-user adolescent students and users of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and inhalants. The sample was made up of 425 adolescents, 196 (46.1%) male and 229 (53.9%) female. These parti...

Inhalants are substances widely used as recreational drugs: their addictive potential has been demonstrated by many studies. There is no reported measurable evidence of craving in inhalant users. The main goal of this study was to design and obtain evidence of validity of the score of a questionnaire for the evaluation of inhalant craving (ICQ) in a Mexican population sample. The ICQ is a type ...

This study investigated the knowledge gains and attitude shifts attributable to a unique online science education game, Uncommon Scents. The game was developed to teach middle school students about the biological consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals in an environmental science context, as well as the risks associated with abusing these chemicals as inhalants. Middle school students (n = ...

The glycine receptor is a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel that is involved in fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the central nervous system. Zinc is an allosteric modulator of glycine receptor function, enhancing the effects of glycine at nanomolar to low-micromolar concentrations and inhibiting its effects at higher concentrations. Low-nanomolar concentrations of contaminating zinc in el...

OBJECTIVE To analyze alcohol, tobacco and other drug use among medical students. METHOD Over a five-year period (1996-2001), we evaluated 457 students at the Universidade de São Paulo School of Medicine, located in São Paulo, Brazil. The students participated by filling out an anonymous questionnaire on drug use (lifetime, previous 12 months and previous 30 days). The influence that gender an...