Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
February 9, 2019
Lorenzo Moccia, A. Tofani, Marianna Mazza et al.
10 citations
Novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) have currently become a major public health concern because of relatively easy accessibility to these compounds and difficulty in identifying them with routine laboratory techniques. Here, we report the 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) case study of a 23-year-old man who developed a...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
May 22, 2018
Laura Orsolini, Michela Ciccarese, Duccio Papanti et al.
25 citations
Currently different classes of psychoactive substances are easily available for abuse, including several hundred novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Some of these drugs occur naturally in plants and animals or are chemically modified from plant or animal compounds and have been abused by humans over millennia. Recently, the occurrence of a new "drug culture" (e.g., psychonauts) who consume a...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
November 20, 2017
Laura Orsolini, Gabriele Duccio Papanti, Domenico de Berardis et al.
99 citations
Hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) is a syndrome characterized by prolonged or reoccurring perceptual symptoms, reminiscent of acute hallucinogen effects. HPPD was associated with a broader range of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)-like substances, cannabis, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, mescaline, and psychostimulants. The recent emergence of novel...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
May 1, 2017
Barbara Loi, Mire Zloh, Maria Antonietta De Luca et al.
17 citations
BACKGROUND: 4,4'-DMAR (4,4'-dimethylaminorex; "Serotoni") is a potent stimulant drug that has recently been associated with a number of fatalities in Europe. Over the last few years, online communities have emerged as important resources for disseminating levels of technical knowledge on novel psychoactive substances. OBJECTIVE: Analysing the information provided by the fora communities on...
Pharmacopsychiatry
April 25, 2017
Norbert Scherbaum, Fabrizio Schifano, Udo Bonnet
46 citations
Over the last few years, hundreds of new psychoactive substances (NPS) have been identified in Europe. Apart from some herbal compounds, NPS mainly include synthetic cannabinoids and a range of new synthetic stimulants (e. g., cathinones). Synthetic NPS are often developed whilst modifying the basic chemical (e. g., phenethylamine or tryptamine) structure. Although the pharmacology and...
Current Neuropharmacology
December 2, 2016
Laura Orsolini, Paul St John‐smith, Daniel Mcqueen et al.
28 citations
Indeed, a range of evolutionary mechanisms, such as: optimal foraging, costly signaling, and reproduction at the expense of health may all cooperate to explain the recent spread and diffusion of the NPS market, and this may represent a reason of concern.
Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology
March 17, 2016
Fabrizio Schifano, Gabriele Duccio Papanti, Laura Orsolini et al.
66 citations
There are increasing levels of concern relating to the rapidly evolving novel psychoactive substances/NPS and web markets' scenarios. The paper aims at providing an overview of the clinical pharmacological issues related to some of the most popular NPS categories, e.g. stimulants and hallucinogens. NPS intake is typically associated with the imbalance of a complex range of neurotransmitter...
World Psychiatry
February 1, 2016
Fabrizio Schifano, Laura Orsolini, Gabriele Duccio Papanti et al.
319 citations
Novel psychoactive substances include synthetic cannabinoids, cathinone derivatives, psychedelic phenethylamines, novel stimulants, synthetic opioids, tryptamine derivatives, phencyclidine-like dissociatives, piperazines, GABA-A/B receptor agonists, a range of prescribedmedications, psychoactive plants/herbs, and a large series of performance and image enhancing drugs. Users are typically...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
July 1, 2015
Stefania Chiappini, Hugh Claridge, John Corkery et al.
45 citations
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to provide an update on the data given on methoxetamine (MXE)-related fatalities that occurred in 2011-2013, presented at the Second International Conference on Novel Psychoactive Substances. METHODS: Fatalities involving MXE were extracted from the database of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths, which receives information on drug-related...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
July 1, 2015
Giuseppe Valeriani, Ornella Corazza, Francesco Saverio Bersani et al.
41 citations
OBJECTIVE: The pharmacological self-management of novel psychoactive substance (NPS)-induced psychopathological consequences represents a fast growing phenomenon. This is facilitated by the frequent sharing of NPS intake experiences online and by the ease of access to a range of psychotropic medications from both the online and street market. Olanzapine is anecdotally reported by Web users to...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
July 1, 2015
Giulia Francesconi, Laura Orsolini, Duccio Papanti et al.
22 citations
INTRODUCTION: Venlafaxine is one of the most frequently prescribed antidepressants worldwide, despite its toxicity risk in overdose. Furthermore, the molecule has been recently identified at the EU-wide level as one of the novel psychoactive substances. This paper aims at investigating the potential of misuse, taking into account both the existing literature and the analysis of the misusers'...
Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking
May 1, 2015
Laura Orsolini, Gabriele Duccio Papanti, Giulia Francesconi et al.
90 citations
Within online drug fora communities, there are some "educated and informed" users who can somehow provide reliable information on psychoactive compounds and combinations. These users, also called "e-psychonauts," may possess levels of technical knowledge relating to a range of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). The present project aimed at identifying and describing the e-psychonauts'...
Drugs and Alcohol Today
February 24, 2015
Fabrizio Schifano
12 citations
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide health professionals with novel psychoactive substances (NPS) clients with up to date information relating to the background, clinical pharmacology and, when possible, clinical management for each of these categories. Design/methodology/approach – The world of NPS is complex and diverse, including a range of different molecules such as:...
Advances in Dual Diagnosis
August 12, 2014
Duccio Papanti, Laura Orsolini, Giulia Francesconi et al.
24 citations
Purpose – “Spice” products are synthetic cannabimimetics (SC; also called “synthetic cannabinoids”)-based designer drugs used as a legal alternative to cannabis for their very strong tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-like effects. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of more recent clinical and pharmacology/toxicology findings relating to SC and describe how they could impact on health,...
BioMed Research International
2014
Francesco Saverio Bersani, Ornella Corazza, Gabriella Albano et al.
98 citations
Introduction. The use of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) has rapidly increased as well as their online availability. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the nature and the risks associated with 25C-NBOMe, which has recently appeared in the drug market. Methods. A systematic analysis of the scientific literature and a qualitative assessment of online and media...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
July 1, 2013
Duccio Papanti, Fabrizio Schifano, Giulia Botteon et al.
191 citations
OBJECTIVES: The use of synthetic cannabimimetics (SC; "spice" drugs) is increasing, especially among teenagers and young adults. In parallel with this, the number of studies describing intoxication episodes associated with psychotic symptoms in SC users is growing. We present both a systematic review of the related literature and a case report, which seems to highlight the existence of a...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
July 1, 2013
John Corkery, Simon Elliott, Fabrizio Schifano et al.
52 citations
OBJECTIVES: MDAI (5,6-methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane; 6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[f][1,3]benzodioxol-6-amine; 'sparkle'; 'mindy') is a psychoactive substance, sold primarily over the Internet and in 'head' shops as a 'legal high'. Synthesised and used as a research chemical in the 1990s, MDAI has structural similarities to MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) and shares its behavioural...
CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics
June 1, 2013
Ornella Corazza, Sulaf Assi, Fabrizio Schifano
147 citations
This article reviews the recreational use of ketamine ("Special K"; KET) and explores the recent diffusion of its new derivative methoxetamine ("Special M"; MXE). The literature search on the nonclinical/recreational use of KET and MXE was carried out in a range of medical databases. Considering the limitations of peer-reviewed information, data were integrated with a qualitative assessment of...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
December 3, 2012
John Corkery, Emma Durkin, Simon Elliott et al.
105 citations
5-MeO-DALT (N,N-diallyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is a psychoactive substance, sold primarily over the Internet as a 'research chemical' or 'plant food'. Although details for the synthesis of this tryptamine have been available since 2004, its use as a hallucinogenic drug has been reported only occasionally in on-line user fora. It is controlled in only a few countries world-wide. There is little...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
August 25, 2012
Fabrizio Schifano, John Corkery, A. Hamid Ghodse
113 citations
BACKGROUND: International media have been reporting about fatalities allegedly related to mephedrone, a popular recreational stimulant, but now a proportion of them have been confirmed. We aimed here at analyzing information relating to the circumstances of mephedrone-related deaths in the United Kingdom. METHODS: Descriptive analysis of information was mainly extracted from the UK National...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
March 1, 2012
Ornella Corazza, Fabrizio Schifano, Pierluigi Simonato et al.
157 citations
On the basis of the material available both in the scientific literature and on the web, this paper aims to provide a pharmacological, chemical and behavioural overview of the novel compound methoxetamine. This is a dissociative drug related to ketamine, with a much longer duration of action and intensity of effects. A critical discussion of the availability of information on the web of...
Current Clinical Pharmacology
May 1, 2011
Ornella Corazza, Fabrizio Schifano, Magı́ Farré et al.
98 citations
Based on the material available in both the scientific literature and on the web, the present paper provides an updated pharmacological, chemical, toxicological and behavioural overview of Bromo-Dragonfly (1-(8-bromobenzo[1,2-b;4,5-b']difuran-4-yl)-2-aminopropane; 'B-fly'). B-Fly is a powerful, long lasting, LSD-like, hallucinogenic drug, which has been associated with a number of acute...
Psychopharmacology
April 2011
Fabrizio Schifano, Antonio Albanese, Suzanne Fergus et al.
Recently, those substances deriving from the active ingredient of the Khat plant, cathinone, have been rising in popularity. Indeed, 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone; 'meow meow' and others) has been seen by some as a cheaper alternative to other classified recreational drugs. We aimed here at providing a state-of-the-art review on mephedrone history and prevalence of misuse, chemistry,...
Forensic Science International
March 20, 2011
Martin M Schmidt, Akhilesh Sharma, Fabrizio Schifano et al.
198 citations
A vast array of substances are marketed as "legal highs" in the UK. These products are mainly marketed online and are packaged and produced to mimic illicit drugs. Little is known about the full range of products available at present and no studies have evaluated the product information provided to consumers. AIMS & HYPOTHESIS: To describe the available legal high products marketed by UK-based...
Drugs and Alcohol Today
August 30, 2010
Zoe Davey, Ornella Corazza, Fabrizio Schifano et al.
30 citations
The market in licit recreational drugs is continuing to grow, both in the UK and elsewhere, and the internet has been acknowledged as a key factor in enabling this rapid expansion over the last few years. This is particularly true of the recent rise in popularity of the substance mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) and related cathinones. Keeping up to date with these new drugs and emerging...