Circulating Stem Cells And Opiate Addiction
Deficit of Circulating Stem Cells-In Opiate Addiction Cause Major Illnesses in the Body
A new research has pointed out that deficit of circulating stem cells-in opiate addiction cause major illnesses in the body. This however is not much of a surprise since past researchers were able to discover the fact that slow cell growth and apoptosis were major reasons for the different capacities of addictive drugs. To people who have slow cell growth, the chances addiction is much higher of Couse within a shorter lifespan than those who had optimum cell growth levels.
Deficit of circulating stem cells-in opiate addiction cause major illnesses in the body The stem cell hypothesis of ageing suggests that ageing at the organismal level is reflected by impaired cell health at the cellular level including reduced function, reduced growth, increased senescence, and cell loss by apoptosis, necrosis. The often disorganized and disheveled body habitus of many drug addicts is well known, as is their predisposition to a variety of unusual disorders.
A rising body of knowledge suggests that disorders common in aged populations occur at an increased frequency in addicted populations as a result of stem cell deficiencies. Stem cells dysfunctions in addicts apply to:
- Osteoporosis,
- Neuropsychiatric disorders,
- Depressed sperm counts,
- Calcific arteriosclerosis,
- Premature graying of the hair,
- Severe mental disorders.
These problems have in common a failure in stem cell physiology. The high mortality accompanying chemical addictions is also well recognized.
New Research
Currently, the field of stem cell biology is mushrooming with many investigations centered on a host of prospective applications in regenerative medicine and including particularly bone marrow transplantation, tissue regeneration and immune and gene therapy. Several recent developments make these advances of particular interest to the field of addictive medicine particularly to its toxicology. Stem cells exist at low frequency in the peripheral circulating blood and may be quantitated there. Several methods have been recently described for the quantitation of various lines of stem and progenitor cells in peripheral blood, a tissue which is regularly accessed in routine clinical care. Secondly the endothelial progenitor cell has been said to be of enormous importance to the regeneration of the vasculature and has be noted to be a superior predictor of cardiovascular outcomes including mortality than commonly used classical cardiovascular risk factors. Similarly counts of the circulating osteoblastic progenitor cell have been shown to correlate with bone density studies. Finally the cellular theory of ageing suggests that stem cells and their health should be a special focus of ageing medicine and the deficits associated with ageing, and this has been confirmed by recent reports.
Given the importance of the circulating stem cells in the blood, it is therefore necessary to examine the peripheral blood for circulating stem cell numbers in addicted and control populations so as to find out the relationship between suppressed levels of the circulating stem cells and illnesses that are common in opiate addicts.
In a research that was done recently by substance abuse prevention policy it was found that patients who were addicted to opiates had decline in stem cells circulating in the peripheral blood appears to be three or four times as fast in addicts as in the general population.
In this research the patients were chosen from normal clinical primary care population. Medical patients were representative of those seen typically in primary care clinics. Opiate addicted patients were maintained on buprenorphine/naloxone combination and are gradually reduced. They were not in clinical withdrawal at any time. Blood was obtained with patient consent. Blood was drawn for standard clinical indications in the course of routine patient care. Peripheral venous blood was sampled from patients and processed fresh without storage by flow cytometry. Absolute lymphocyte counts were taken, and CD34+ CD45+ double positive cells were counted as haemopoietic stem cells (HSC’s), and CD34+ KDR+ (VEGFR2+) cells were denoted endothelial progenitor cells (EPC’s). Progenitor cells were standardized against the lymphocyte fraction as these were believed to be of the most appropriate nuclear cytoplasmic ratio.
Based on the data presented the decline in stem cells circulating in the peripheral blood appears to be three or four times as fast in addicts as in the general population. This therefore indicates that opiates addicts are more likely to suffer the symptoms of low circulating stem cells than those who are not addicted to opiates.
This research however was small but if these results are confirmed by other researches that are done on a much larger scope then they would have very significant potential implications for understanding the cumulative toxicology of indefinite maintenance therapies and programs both for opiate dependency and the notion presently widespread in medicinal chemistry, clinical, research funding and other circles that agonist medication is functionally superior to sustain patient compliance in the long term to antagonists. If confirmed the present results are likely to have far reaching implications for clinical practice and hence public policy, particularly as an increasing number of long acting depot preparations of antagonists are currently entering the marketplace.
This research as said earlier is a preliminary study and its researchers are still suggesting that further investigations be done for on-going research in this important field as it has significant future implications for drugs policy administrations and long term patient treatment development.
Finally drug addiction is effectively fought through integrative care. If you are battling with addiction and you need help call Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Center on (843) 213-1480 for help.
Deficit of Circulating Stem Cells-In Opiate Addiction Cause Major Illnesses in the Body
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